Red Snow
by Kashim Kururugi
Summary: AU: Set during the time Rido attacks, Kaname has made up his mind that he is not going to let this family die, in saving Haruka from the fatal heart wound forces a major turn of events. Now with the corrupt council out to get them they must rally behind the hunters and a few loyal nobles and go to war once more.
1. The War Begins

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or it's characters and I make no profit off these writings. I do however own the placement of words and how they are arranged.

A/N Wow, well... it is hard to believe I've come back to this fandom, but here I am. If you read my other VK story The Sun Shines Behind The Clouds then you know why I left for awhile, but I have decided to overcome the past, restart, thank the good Lord and start writing full force again. I am really proud of how this first chapter turned out and I hope you will enjoy this as well.

Note: I would also like to point out very proudly, that this is my 150th fanfiction and I am very happy to have made it this far, thank you to everyone who has made my writing a success and left reviews to keep me going.

XxXxX

It was finally time. Rido was finally making his move and attacking the manor, he knew about Yuki and he was here to take her away, but they were ready to fight to the death to stop such a thing from happening. This day in the history of the vampires would be a day marked with a river of blood. Be it a good ending or a bad, it would forever be known as a civil war between the vampire race.

Kaname clenched his fists, he wouldn't let these people be killed, not his family his father, his mother or his beloved Yuki. He was determined to keep them alive no matter what happened and that was all there was to it. He charged out into the storm as Haruka and Rido were in the midst of battle.

"Otou-sama!" He shouted, he saw the blade coming and he had no choice, his hands were already stained with so much blood, he was willing to make the sacrifice, Yuki needed her parents.

He stepped in between the two and felt the blade enter into his chest, felt the sharp edge graze along his heart and heard the horrified gasp of his father.

"Kaname!" He shouted, now the anger filled his voice as he caught his son. Kaname slowly held a hand out and glared at Rido, who only smirked, not caring who he killed in this fight.

"Be gone!" There was a blast and the groups of vampires were reduced to ash before his very eyes, the only one that remained was Rido. Kaname's eyes grew wide in shock. That was all his remaining strength, why had none of it reached Rido? Why did he stop himself from killing that man? Why did he miss on purpose?

"Ahahaha! You think that you can kill me?" Rido asked, holding his hands out on either side of him. "You have been living in this place too long, you've forgotten who you are haven't you, Kaname?"

"Forgotten…?" He was confused and he was weak and tired and the blade that he had saved his father from was aching more and more.

"Rido… maybe Kaname can't kill you, but I still can." Haruka snapped. "You will become ash before my eyes just like your minions… and I will stop the council, because nobody touches my family and gets away with it!"

Haruka had to act quickly, Kaname had just slumped in his arms and become dead weight, he quickly set him down and clenched a fist in preparation.

"What are you thinking?" Rido asked, smirking darkly.

"It's time to fight like a man, one on one. No weapons."

He quickly stepped forward and Rido swung a fist, claws prepared to take skin, but Haruka ducked beneath the blow and tackled Rido to the ground. Haruka raised a fist and slammed it into Rido's face, before Rido grabbed his collar and head-butted him, knocking him back a bit.

Rido brought a hand back across Haruka's face, leaving bloody scratch marks, before kicking him off of him and the two were both quickly on their feet again. This time Rido tackled Haruka and they both rolled down a hill, slamming into a tree trunk, a harsh blow to the both of them.

During the roll Haruka managed to get back on top again, Kaname hadn't been able to kill Rido, but their combined efforts had greatly weakened him. Haruka brought his hands up and dug them into Rido's eyes and Rido cried out in agony. He dug his thumbs deeper into Rido's eyes, reaching all the way inside those mismatched eyes that scared his daughter so much. No more of this. He was going to end it.

Rido grabbed at Haruka's arms, but it was fruitless to stop him, the damage was done, Haruka quickly pulled one hand back and slammed it into Rido's head repeatedly, smashing it in with his strength, before he quickly reached into his chest and tore past flesh and muscle and gripped his heart and ripped it out still beating in his palm.

His panted very heavily staring at the motionless body under him. A crack appeared, before the body of his brother shattered. He quickly thought of Kaname and stood, stumbling under his own weight and running up the hill, he stumbled and tripped in the thick snow. He slammed his hand into the thick snow, leaving a bloody hand print, before he forced himself up with all his strength and made it back to Kaname's side.

"Kaname?" He lifted the boy's head up into his lap and patted his cheek lightly. "Can you hear me? I am sorry for what I am about to do… forgive me…" He jerked the sword out and picked Kaname up, slinging the boy over his shoulder, before grabbing the sword with his free hand and rushing him into the house.

Back in the basement Juri held Yuki in her arms trying to comfort the terrified and crying girl, she had cried for her Onii-sama the moment he rushed out, but Juri could easily identify who's blood had been spilled and Kaname's was included along with Haruka's and Rido's, although she was uncertain of the winner or the outcome.

If Haruka and Kaname had been killed, then she was prepared to sacrifice herself to send Yuki to her old friend where she would be able to live safely as a human with her vampire nature sealed away.

"Okaa-sama…" Yuki sniffled through tears and sobs. "Are Onii-sama and Otou-sama okay?"

Juri really didn't know what to say, because she truly did not know the answer to the question, anything could have happened. She didn't exactly know what to say, she decided to lie when she heard the shout.

"Juri!" The door was kicked open and Haruka carrying Kaname ran down the stairs. "Get Yuki, we are leaving right now. Quickly. There is no time."

"Haruka!"

"Onii-sama!" Yuki struggled in her mother's grip to try and get to him, but Juri held her tightly, refusing to let go.

"What's happened, Haruka?"

"There's no time. Quickly."

"But, Haruka-"

"Juri now! Kaname scarified his life for us and we must not let that go to waste!" He shouted frantically and Juri said nothing, but quickly grabbed Yuki up into her arms and put her to sleep so she wouldn't be aware and could stop crying.

She nodded that she was ready and Haruka quickly lead them out the underground passage. He knew where they had to go, Kruso Kaien was the only one that could be trusted at this point in time. He held Kaname tightly in his arms and cradled him against his chest to try and keep him warm through the intense blizzard that was hitting them, while Juri did the same with Yuki.

"How are you holding up?" He shouted over the wind.

"I am fine, you?" She asked back and it made him stop to look at Kaname.

"We're going to make it through this." His voice was surly not loud enough for her to hear, but it was not intended for her, because he knew at least that Juri and Yuki would actually make it. The words were just as much for Kaname's sake as they were for his own reassurance.

They walked, hours, miles on and on. Haruka was becoming weaker and weaker and by now he couldn't even tell if Kaname was still alive. He was frozen, ice cold, but he knew he had to keep going, if he couldn't save Kaname, he still had to save Juri and Yuki.

"Haruka." Juri said and he looked up to see the cottage in the distance and he thanked God for His mercy. If it were any farther then they would be dead now. He picked up his pace into a sprint and pounded on the door with his foot.

There was a long silence, so long, too long, before the door finally opened and Kaien looked at them in absolute shock.

"Come in quickly." He said and ushered them into the warmth.

"Please, help me with Kaname." Haruka said, but he was unable to keep the frantic tone from his voice no matter how much he tried to remain calm for the sake of his family.

"Set him on the table." Kaien shoved everything off the table, breaking several glasses and plates, but that didn't matter now. "Juri, there are blankets in my room, go get one for you and Yuki and please do bring me some sheets and one for Kaname as well."

Juri nodded, setting the unconscious Yuki on the couch and running into the room to get the things, she tossed the blankets and sheets to Kaien, before settling down with Yuki and doing her best to wrap her up and get her warm.

Haruka had set Kaname down on the table and opened his coat and blood soaked shirt, before sitting him up and pulling it up as Kaien settled a sheet beneath him.

"We have to stop the bleeding since he hasn't healed. I…" He paused. "There was an anti-vampire weapon involved?" Kaien asked. He was shocked. He moved over grabbing the other sheet and pressing it against the wound.

"Yes, Rido brought it and attempted to kill me… Kaname… he got in the way… he saved us." Haruka said and Kaien nodded.

"Put pressure on the wound." He quickly moved over to the sink and grabbed a pot, he quickly set it on the stove and turned it on full blast. He grabbed the sheet and Haruka moved to let him lift it and look underneath. He set his fingers right next to the wound and pulled it apart. "It missed his heart by a few centimeters."

"Is he going to make it?"

"Do you want my honest opinion?" He asked, covering the wound again and putting pressure back onto it in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Yes."

"I don't know. It doesn't look good. I have to stop the bleeding manually since he isn't healing and think I'm going to have to open him up. He may not survive it. So I need to know… do I have your permission, Haruka?"

There was a short silence, before he nodded. "Yes… please… do your best… to save my son…"

Juri watched them from the living room; luckily Yuki was still out and didn't have to witness any of this. She could feel the tears prick at the corners of her eyes. Haruka rarely called Kaname their son, but she rarely did as well. She could sense the grief and shame Haruka felt at having to be saved by Kaname, but it had happened and nothing could change that.

In hindsight… she really wished they had been kinder to Kaname. Even though they did their best to give him a good life since he entrusted it to them… he still could not replace their real son and there had always been that very visible distance between them all. She greatly regretted not showing Kaname all of her heart, and she was sure her husband did as well.

"Very lucky… it's gone in the space right between the heart and the liver, any lower or any higher and we would have a problem on our hands, but I believe it's gone through his spine on the way out." Kaien stated calmly, still working on stopping the bleeding before he worked farther. "The cold has helped a bit to stop the flow of the blood."

"Juri… why don't you take Yuki into the bedroom." Haruka said and Juri knew what he was really saying 'Please don't let Yuki wake up to see this'. She nodded and picked her daughter up and took her into the bedroom. She sat in silence for a long time, before Yuki started to stir.

"Okaa-sama?" She asked drowsy and confused. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere safe." Juri promised.

"What about Onii-sama and Otou-sama?" She rubbed at her tired eyes and looked over to find a window that showed her the outside world, she was amazed at the snow that hit the window and frosted it over.

"Otou-sama is doing just fine." Juri said, avoiding answer the other question. Yuki looked at her, about to ask about Kaname again. "Go look outside and see." She urged quickly, she couldn't answer her daughter's question. She just couldn't.

"It's outside?" She asked and her mother nodded. "Is it… snow? Like Onii-sama said? Is it white and cold?"

"Yes, that is the color white and yes it is very cold." Juri felt the tears start to fall, no longer able to hold them in. Her poor little darling boy… he was dying and she could do nothing about it.

"Okaa-sama? Why are you crying?" Yuki quickly hugged her mother, feeling sad for her, but not understanding a single thing that was happening.

"It's alright, Yuki. Everything is alright… go have a look outside." Juri said softly and Yuki looked at her mother with a worried expression, wanting to comfort her, but she also wanted to see. Juri nodded towards the window and Yuki finally gave in and slowly got off her mother's lap and walked to the window to look outside into the dark.

Juri wiped at the tears and watched the clock; it had been a long time. The sun would soon rise. She turned her attention back to Yuki, trying not to cry and get her mind off of it.

Yuki was completely amazed as she stared out, she saw the tree that danced in the snowy breeze, its branches bending as if they might break, but they held fast. Hundreds, thousands, millions of snowflakes of every size and shape floated through the air and coated the ground with even more white.

The door suddenly opened and Yuki watched as her mother stood right away, her father stood there and stared at her in silence, before whispering something she couldn't hear and her mother dropped to her knees, sobbing.

"Okaa-sama!" Yuki cried in shock and watched her father quickly kneel down and take her into his arms as she rocked back and forth. She was unsure of what to do; she had never seen this before, never. It hit her suddenly that her Onii-sama wasn't here. Why?

Suddenly a man she had never seen entered the room. "Haruka… Juri…" Kaien started, but stopped and stared at them. Juri looked up at him from her husband's arms.

Was this bad news?

XxXxX

TBC...

I know, I'm so terrible to leave you at this cliffy, but I have no choice, stay tuned for the next installment, thanks for reading, God Bless and leave a review. Thank you very much. ^^


	2. The Secession

Disclaimer: I do not own VK nor do I claim to.

A/N This chapter is probably a bit depressing, but I tried to keep it sort of light. As always, please do share your thoughts on it with me. I do so enjoy long drawn out reviews. It's as good as finding intelligent conversation. Hm. ^^

'Apathy is one of the characteristic responses of any living organism when it is subjected to stimuli too intense or too complicated to cope with. The cure for apathy is comprehension.' - John Dos Passos

XxXxX

Suddenly a man she had never seen entered the room. "Haruka… Juri…" Kaien started, but stopped and stared at them. Juri looked up at him from her husband's arms. "He's fine… I managed to stop the bleeding."

"Where's Onii-sama?" Yuki asked quietly, holding the edge of her skirt nervously. Kaien looked at her and gave her a small smile, but she was scared because she could smell and see the blood all over his hands. Her Onii-sama's blood.

"Your Onii-sama is just fine my dear. I promise." He told her.

"Then… Yuki would like to see Onii-sama."

"You will, once he's rested. He's asleep, he got hurt, but we took good care of him." He offered another smile, before exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

Haruka held open one arm and smiled at her. "Come here Yuki."

She quickly ran to them and her father embraced them both and held them, he was so relieved that Kaname was going to be alright and Juri was so emotional she couldn't stop crying over it all. They were safe for now, but this war was far from over.

XxXxX

"Onii-sama." The voice whispered almost ominously and Kaname slowly, very slowly opened his eyes and groaned at the pain he felt. He searched for the voice and found himself looking into two big brown puppy dog eyes so cute that they put baskets full of puppies and kittens in the middle of a field of flowers to shame.

"Yuki…" He whispered, he lifted his hand weakly to her cheek and she leaned into it and held his hand there.

"Onii-sama, you were asleep for a long time."

"Yuki…?" He was confused for a few moments, before everything hit him in a flash and he winced. Obviously everyone was alright if they were here and safe, right? "How long?"

"This many days, I counted." She held up all her fingers and he blinked in surprise.

"Ten days…?" He tried to sit up, but regretted it immediately. He tried to move again, but he couldn't feel anything lower down. "I can't move…"

"Kaien-san says Onii-sama has a bad hurt." She told him just as the door opened and Haruka and Juri entered.

"Kaname, you're awake. How do you feel?" Haruka asked and Juri quickly stepped forward and placed a kiss on his cheek. Why all the affection from the two? Kaname wondered to himself.

"I am afraid I am having trouble moving."

"Your spine was injured when you had that weapon go through you, you won't be walking anywhere any time soon, but luckily your healing will kick back in and it will heal eventually." Haruka informed and Kaname looked down for a moment.

"I see."

"Don't be sad, Onii-sama!" Yuki said, hopping on the bed a little and he winced a bit as it jarred his injury, but he chose not to voice that, instead he settled for setting a hand on top of her head to stop her from bouncing again.

"I am not sad, Yuki." He stated, putting on a smile for her. "Don't worry."

"Yuki, let's go outside and you can play in the snow, Otou-sama has to speak with Kaname." Juri said, moved to pick Yuki up and take her out of the room. Yuki was more than displeased, but she said nothing about it. She could after all sense the tension in the air.

Once they were gone Haruka stepped forward. "Kaname… you understand the percussions that will take place from all of this."

"Yes, of course I do. It's war, isn't it?"

Haruka nodded. "You know more about war between vampires then I do… I know how it sounds, but… how did you fix things the first time?"

Kaname looked away for a moment, silent and Haruka felt guilty for bringing it up, but he had to know and he had to know now.

"The council was never intended to stop bad things from happening; I do not know how they became so corrupt. I ask your forgiveness for my transgression, if I had not gone into slumber from my own grief, none of this would have happened."

"But you saved us, Kaname. If it weren't for you I would have never been able to kill Rido… all that's left is to stop the council. I'm asking how it can be done safely."

"You need people on hand that you can trust, who will not fall to greed and blood lust… they must be kept in line… a joint Elder Council of hunters and vampire nobles, but first you must destroy the current council completely, purge it, but they have watchdogs in the hunters as well… it will be almost impossible with them in the way."

"You're saying the hunters are corrupt as well?"

"Not all of them, but yes. There are those who don't care for their own kind. If we can remove them… and replace them with those who will not waver in their beliefs… then maybe… we can stop this from ever happening again and have peace finally. We need trust worthy pawns."

Haruka stared at him for a moment. "Pawns? You mean use them?"

"That is what I mean. I want a peaceful world for Yuki. I am sure you want the same. Hence, I will stop at nothing to achieve my goals."

"The ends justify the means? I don't believe in that Kaname. Goals achieved through immoral means are meaningless. Yuki wouldn't want it to happen that way."

"Then what do you suggest we do? You came to me for council… I gave it to you."

"And it was helpful. I agree with you, we need a join council. I just don't want to do it the way you suggested." He put on a smile and tilted his head to the side. "Trust in your father Kaname, we will make a more peaceful world, but we will do it with warriors that want this truly from the bottoms of their hearts. That is how you keep the peace."

Kaname remained silent, not saying a word. If that foolish man didn't want to listen so be it. He would do this on his own. That plan would never work… _she_had told him it would never work when he suggested it all those thousands of years ago. Why would it work now?

"You're awfully quiet, Kaname. What are you thinking?" Haruka asked, but chuckled quietly. "You don't believe it will work, is that it?"

"How could it?"

"Have faith. It will work. I know it. Now… get some rest… we are about to go through some very hard times."

He went silence once more and Haruka stepped forward and lightly ruffled his son's hair, before leaving him to his rest.

XxXxX

Three days, three very long days Kaname was trapped on confined in this room with the big bay window that let too much light in. If he could get up out of this bed he would close the curtains. Honestly, it was as if they were purposely torturing him.

It was as they had said of course, his healing was slowly kicking back in, but the feeling of his spine stitching itself back together was more or less extremely uncomfortable. He shifted slightly and inhaled sharply. It was still too soon to trying to be moving even in the slightest.

Swallowing hard he gave up on moving and stared straight up at the ceiling. He felt lonely and tired from all that he had been through. Remembering the past had not been easy on him. If only he could so easily forget. While the memories were so long ago they were fragmented greatly beyond repair, he could still diffidently remember the pain and loneliness.

The door clicked open slowly and he was so lost in thought he barely noticed, which was very unusual for him. Of course these past few days he had been very unusual. Not himself.

"Kaname-kun, you have a visitor…" Kaien informed him and stepped aside so that Yuki was able to run into the room and jump onto the bed with him. He winced, but forced a smile through the pain, after all… she could inflict all the pain she wanted, purposely or not and he would accept it gratefully.

"Onii-sama! Are you getting better?"

"I am getting better." He assured softly. "And when I am, Yuki and I can go and play in the snow together. Would you like that?"

She nodded right away. "Yes, Onii-sama."

XxXxX

It was late, he didn't know how late exactly, but he smiled a bit to see Yuki playing outside with Haruka and Juri. It was a sight to see, the three of them. It was exactly how it should be. He didn't belong there with them and he never had.

On the days when he couldn't get out of bed, it made his entire day to see her happily playing outside for the first time without being afraid of monsters.

He was so very lucky to have Yuki, but he also knew he didn't deserve her. He glanced down and slowly, very slowly sat up. He took a deep breath, before putting one foot on the ground then the other, it was difficult. That much was for sure.

Pressing a hand firmly against the mattress he forced himself to stand. It still ached, but he just could not stand being stuck in that bed anymore. He nodded to himself, before the first act as his newly restored self was to walk over and close those damn drapes.

He sighed in relief and laughed a bit to himself in the quiet room. Such a small thing felt like such a big accomplishment to him, it was rather entertaining to think of it in that way. He glanced over to the door now and slowly opened it.

"Oh, Kaname-kun, you shouldn't be up." Kaien said in worry and… was that man… wearing… a pink apron? He blinked and did a double take it to confirm what he thought he saw. Yes. The man was indeed wearing a pink apron.

He cleared his throat. "I simply could not remain in that bed a single second longer. My very sanity was at stake."

The hunter smiled all in good humor. For such a young boy, Kaname certainly did have a way with words that entertained one quite a bit.

"Would you like something to eat?" Kaien was currently cooking up some-… well something. He didn't exactly know what, he couldn't recognize it. It looked fancy though. The man must know what he was doing.

"No, thank you." Kaname replied, moving to lean against the wall for some support.

"You should sit down." Kaien suggested and motioned to the couch. When there was no response he stopped to look up from the pan. "Are you going outside to play with Yuki?"

"I would be impolite to interrupt them. I will let them have their time together."

"They are your family too. I'm sure they would love to have you there with them. They love you Kaname. Very much so." He was silent at those words. So the hunter decided to continue. "I know about what happened… you can't blame yourself… you are their son now and they have accepted you as that."

"What? I am not aware of what you are speaking of."

"No need to play dumb. I know everything."

Kaname pressed his lips together in a very thin line at those words. This man knew everything? "Well then you must know that this is entirely my doing."

"The only think I know is that you must stop taking all the blame. You're miserable doing that, Kaname. I can see it clear as day and Yuki sees it as well. You don't want her burdened by all that do you? No. I'm sure you don't. You should let it go already."

"Don't tell me what to do." Kaname said unhappily, frowning. Just then that door opened and he looked over to see them all coming inside.

"Kaname, you're up." Haruka said in surprise, but not at all displeased.

"Onii-sama!" Yuki would have run and jumped onto him, but luckily Juri was holding her in her arms, knowing it would be best not to let her do that at this time.

"How are you feeling, Kaname?" Juri asked with a gentle smile and he sighed a bit. These three had the best of him. That was for sure. He really loved them all no matter how hard he tried to distance himself from them.

"Much better, thank you." He replied, before he caught Haruka's gaze on him and looked down at the floor. That look meant that he knew something was wrong and he was going to act fatherly and try and help and talk about it. He didn't want to talk about it. He wanted to be childish and run away from it.

Juri also noted the change and looked at her husband, before setting a hand on his shoulder that said to leave Kaname alone for a while. Haruka gave her a look, but stopped before he said anything. He was sure Juri knew best.

"Kaname… I think Yuki needs a bath after being out in the cold. Would you be a dear and take care of her while your father and I talk?" She asked him with a smile.

"Of course… I can do that for you." He stepped up and took Yuki into his arms, but he heard her worried gasp.

"But, Onii-sama doesn't it hurt?" She asked, worried about him carrying her when he wasn't well.

"It does not. I am perfectly fine, Yuki." He informed calmly, before carrying her down the hallway very slowly. She did notice he was walking slower than normal, but chose not to say anything, because he might become upset if she kept pestering him about it.

As she looked over his shoulder she also noticed her mother's slight worried look. She was obviously afraid Kaname would hurt himself again as well. She didn't have much time to ponder any of it, as he had already opened the door and set her down, before running warm water for her.

She looked up and studied him with his back to her as he prepared everything for her, as he always did, because he always attended to everything with her. Whatever she needed he would get even if she didn't ask for it. He always had since as long as she could remember. He never failed to amaze her with what he was willing to do for her.

"Is Onii-sama going to take a bath with Yuki?"

He tiled his head to the side. "Hmm? If that is what Yuki really wants I suppose." He kneeled in front of her to help her undress and get into the bath. She inched forward to give him space to get in behind her and heard the soft sound of amusement he made.

"Onii-sama seems sad." She said quietly and he pursed his lips for a moment.

"Why does Yuki say that, hmm?"

"But Onii-sama is sad… right?"

"I'm fine, Yuki." He assured her softly. "Close your eyes." He told her and she did while he poured water over her head to wet her hair. "What smell does Yuki want for her hair?"

"I want the strawberry smell." She informed and smiled.

"Ahhh, that one. I see." He chuckled softly at her giggling as he poured some of the pink shampoo onto her heard and scrubbed it into her hair. He sputtered when she tossed a handful of pink foam at him, but it didn't bother him. She could do whatever she wanted and he was fine, in fact he enjoyed that it made her laugh so hard.

She gave him an adorable smile that he couldn't resist returning. "Here, Onii-sama." She pulled his head down and poured water over it slowly. He closed his eyes at the warmth of the water spilling down along his face and back, he relaxed a bit. "Now Onii-sama is clean too."

"Thank you, Yuki." He lifted his head and smiled at her. "Alright, now it is time you go to bed. The sun will be up soon."

He got up as she looked away and grabbed a towel for both of them. He made sure he was covered before going back to help her out and dry her off with the fluffy pink towel. He lifted her up and took her down the hall to her room. He was stopped at the door when Juri noticed.

"Oh? You took a bath with Yuki? You didn't hurt yourself did you?" She asked quietly, still concerned with him. Even if he was healed enough to be up, who knew how long the effect of the weapon would stand with him. Especially since he was psychically so young and lacking the advantage of his full potential.

"Of course not." He assured. "I am going to put Yuki to bed. Is that alright."

"Kaname, silly boy you don't have to ask. Thank you for taking such good care of her." Juri got up and walked over, leaning down to give him a small kiss on the cheek and patting his head lightly. "You're a good boy Kaname."

Regardless of his attempt at shaking it off, the compliments made him feel good. They made him feel like he was doing something right, but he didn't feel like it most of the time. Mainly he just felt lonely and useless. These people parted the clouds and brought out the sunlight and he couldn't do a thing to stop that or what he felt no matter how hard he tried.

"Onii-sama…" Yuki poked his other cheek. "Will you sleep with Yuki tonight? I missed you."

"Alright, Yuki. I will stay with you." He carried her into her room, before he headed out to his own to grab something clean to sleep in. once he returned Yuki had already gotten herself (messily he might add) into her own pajamas. His lips twitched up into a bit of a grin. "Let me help Yuki."

She pouted, but gave up and allowed him to help her get dressed fully and correctly. He gave her another small smile as he finished and picked her up to put her into bed. She eagerly lifted the covers for him to get in besides her and he did so. She immediately snuggled into his chest and sighed in contentment.

"I love you Onii-sama." She whispered into his chest and he sighed softly. This was the only time he felt truly content and happy.

"I love Yuki as well." He paused. "And… does Yuki think she will always love me?" She nodded into his chest, she knew that he would continue to question her on it. He did it every time, she felt that he was afraid, but she just didn't understand what he was so afraid of. "Even if you go somewhere else and there is somebody nicer?"

She felt his grip on her tighten. "No one is nice as Onii-sama."

"What if there is?"

She furrowed her brow and tried to just sleep against him, but he would keep talking until she answered him and he felt somewhat satisfied with the answer. "I don't care. I only want to be with Onii-sama."

He exhaled slowly and nodded, before closing his eyes as the sun slowly rose in the sky. He hoped that it was true and he wished that he didn't have to burden Yuki with his doubts. He wished he could stop having such doubts. He wanted that so much, but he didn't know if he would ever have that assurance ingrained into his head.

"Yuki…" He breathed softly, before she reached up and gently petted his head until he slowly fell asleep and forgot about everything.

XxXxX

TBC...


	3. Beast Within The Shadows

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or it's characters and I make no profit off these writings. I do however own the placement of words and how they are arranged.

A/N Here is the next installment, and have a great Thanksgiving everyone. God Bless and I hope you all have a wonderful day.

XxXxX

A few days later they were having a private meetings with several nobles that disliked the council's corruption just as much as they did. The held the meeting in Kaien's basement, hidden away from the prying eye.

"I am surprised, but very appreciative so many of you have come." Haruka stated calmly, folding his hands on the table in front of him.

"As soon as I heard you were going to stop their corruption I knew what that I wanted to join your revolution, Haruka-sama." Aido informed. "My son will serve your family just as loyally."

"I am sure Hanabusa will be a loyal knight to join our cause." He paused. "Kaname will be an acting general in our efforts."

"A general? Pardon me Haruka-sama, but he's just a boy." Aido tried to argue and Kaname held his tongue to remain silent and allow Haruka to finish speaking.

"I have the utmost trust that Kaname will not fail in his duties. I ask all of you to have faith in him as well." Haruka stated, looking around the room full of nobles. "Before we go over the plans… I will wait until a few more guests arrive."

A few minutes ticked by, before the door opened and a group came down slowly. The vampires all stood at the sight of the hunters and everyone froze.

"Please…" Kaien began. "We are not your enemies. This is our battle just as much as it is yours."

There was a brief silence, before everyone slowly and cautiously sat back down while the hunters joined the meeting.

"Our goal… is to coincide peacefully with the humans. Kaien has decided to open a school on that behalf with humans and vampires." Haruka stated. "Kaname."

That was his cue and he stood up and pulled a sheet off an old chess board in the middle of the table to everyone's curiosity.

"Each piece is a goal." Kaname informed. "The king and queen are obviously Otou-sama and Okaa-sama." He referred to them respectfully as he should; the others still were and always would be in the dark about his secret.

"And Rido was the enemy's king?" One noble asked, speaking up for the first time.

"No. Rido was simply a pawn." Kaname stated, taking the middle pawn off the board and setting it aside carefully. "If he was the king… we would have won this war already and would only need to mop up the remainders."

"Then who is the leader?"

"I suspect Asato Ichijo." Kaname replied to the noble and Haruka remained silent, they thought Kaname was only a boy. He needed to prove he knew what he was doing, so he would keep quiet. "But it isn't just him… he may be the king, but there is a queen behind him pulling the strings."

"Then we must do our best to figure out who that is." Aido stated firmly.

"Aido," Kaien said. "For our plans, would you agree to let your son attend the school? For co-existence?"

"I will." He affirmed and Kaien smiled and nodded.

"For a join council, I have decided the leaders should be Aido and Kaien. It would work for the best if we could establish this now. Of course there will be more council members, but for now." Haruka said and stood up. There was silence. "No objections then? Good."

"Gather what information you can and be careful not to disclose any information." Kaname told them as they all got up and bowed, before leaving. The hunters left as well, still cautious around the vampires, just as they were around the hunters.

"I think it went well. We have chosen leaders. How is your informant, Kaname?" Haruka asked.

"He is well. He's been of much help and has not been suspected in the least."

"Very well. Yuki misses you. She has not seen you very often lately and it is always Onii-sama that is on her mind. So I think you should go." He smiled a bit at Kaname's confused, surprised and then all around slight excited look because Yuki thought of him. With a nod Kaname headed upstairs, just as Haruka started he paused when he noticed Aido had stayed a bit longer.

"Haruka-sama… I wanted to ask one more question…" Aido began. "Why are you doing all this? I agree with it, but what interest does a pureblood have in the affairs of nobles and the council… you could take complete control over them."

"Yes… we could take control of them, but I won't take away their free will, even if they have decided to do terrible things. If we take away their free will it really won't get us anywhere. There will be no peaceful existence with humans and hunters. It will be the same as it is now." He replied. "As for the reason… I want my children to have freedom. I want them to have a good life full of the opportunity to be able to achieve whatever goals they set their minds to."

"That is a noble cause indeed. I am honored to follow you to the death milord." Aido bowed. "I bid you farewell."

With that Aido flipped his coat and disappeared out the door. He headed into the office to find Juri and Kaien speaking quietly about plans, mainly Yuki.

"Haruka." Juri smiled when she saw him. "I was just discussing Yuki with Kaien-kun. I would like her to attend the academy as well."

"I think that would be a wonderful idea. It will give her a somewhat normal life." He smiled happily, but furrowed his brow for a moment. "Although I think it's too late for Kaname to have anything anywhere close to normal."

"I'll leave you two." Kaien said and headed out of the office.

"I fear I put too much pressure on him already, Juri."

"Why do you think that?" She asked, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his waist and staring up at him.

"I have involved him in the war. I made him my right hand general." He stated with a troubled look.

"Haruka… I think Kaname is glad to be fighting for Yuki's sake. It gives him something to distract his troubled mind with to plan strategies… if you just keep him off the battle field…"

"I don't know if I can… I will do my best. He's a boy inside a man. He's not really who he makes us think he is. Kaname is just as weak and vulnerable as you or I." He sighed. "I desperately want for him to have freedom as well… but I have no idea how to help him."

Juri pursed her lips and remained silent, before pouting. "Haruka… don't make such a depressing face like that. I will speak with our dear son." She reached up and kissed her husband, before leaving his side and heading down the hall to Yuki's room. It wasn't hard to guess that was where Kaname would be.

She stopped at the door and peeked inside to find Kaname lying on his back on the floor, reading a book to a napping Yuki.

"Kaname." Juri said softly and he paused in his reading to look over at her. Juri walked over to him and picked up Yuki from his chest, before settling the sleeping girl into bed. Kaname looked slightly disappointed. "We need to talk." She told him and he froze like a deer in the headlights. "It's nothing bad!" She waved her hands in the air with a smile.

"What about?" He asked, sitting up.

"I think we need to talk about your feelings." She smiled and tilted her head to the side playfully and his tilted to the side in confusion.

"My feelings? I'm afraid I don't understand…" Kaname said softly.

"How do you really feel about all this?"

"Everything?"

"Yes, Kaname. Everything."

"I want to make it safe for Yuki." He stated immediately. "but other than that… I have no feelings regarding the rest of this whatsoever."

Juri sighed. "Oh, Kaname. Is that really the truth?"

"Yes. Of course. I would not lie to you."

"Don't you think it's odd?" Juri asked him still smiling softly.

"But… this is how I have always been… I can't remember anything different. How is it odd if I have never been any other way?" He was honestly confused.

"I'm going to send you to school with Yuki, Kaname. As soon as this war is over I want you to live a normal life. I want you to be able to sit back and indulge in the beauty of life. It is my only wish for my children."

"But I'm not even really a part of this family…" He stated, looking down at the floor. Juri tsk'd and kneeled in front of him and tilted his chin up so he would look at her.

"Kaname… you are my son now and I love just as that. I still raised you as my beautiful baby boy. Your father and I love you so very much and we want a peaceful world for you just as much as we want it for Yuki."

He didn't say anything and was unable to stop the tears from spilling over at the overwhelming emotion of hearing those words. Having people that truly cared about him caused a feeling deep in his chest he had never really experienced before.

"Kaname." Juri said softly, surprised with his unusual show of emotions. She pulled him into a warm comforting hug and smiled. "It's alright. It's okay."

XxXxX

8 years later…

The war was still ongoing and there had been casualties. Many of them on both sides, but the sides were indeed established. It was a true revolution among vampires. It was a long and bloody war, but still progress has been made and territory lines had been drawn.

During such an important time, he thought he should be out in the field and had suggested such to Haruka and Juri, however… when they actually sent him into a field full of flowers just outside the academy grounds to spend the day with Yuki was not at all what he expected.

His complaints had only been met by those eyes of hers that he simply could not resist; therefore he ended up agreeing to it. He stared up into the bright blue sky with only a few odd clouds here and there, before turning his attention to the academy in the distance. Things had been going relatively well with it. Better than expected.

Finally his eyes glanced down to where Yuki was lying with her head on his stomach and tracing random lines down his side and stomach, up along his ribs, perhaps counting them. He truly did long for a long and endearing courtship with Yuki, but with the war going on it was difficult and he was terrified with him not being around often and her going to school she would lose interest in him and met somebody else.

Her hand ceased its movements and she raised her head to look up at his face, he seemed troubled and she could tell much easier when he was troubled then when she was younger. She set her hands on his chest to feel his heart beating beneath his shirt.

"Onii-sama… I hear your heart beating." She said quietly, nervously and he slowly glanced at her.

"Hear it?" He asked genuinely curious. Yuki was thirteen now, she was turning into a woman, he noticed. Of course he noticed, but she was still too young to think of even looking or touching her the wrong way. "And… are Yuki's fangs coming in? Is that the problem?"

She didn't say anything, only looking down so her hair fell into her eyes and obscured her face. He watched her in complete silence, before raising a hand to caress her cheek gently.

"Yuki?"

"Yes…" She admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She didn't answer. "Ah… are you afraid of using them? Don't be. For how long have you had them, Yuki?"

"Not that long… I-omf!" She was cut off as he pulled her into his chest and held her there, refusing to let go. When he held her she knew she couldn't escape from his grasp.

"Why don't you drink then? Yuki… it would truly please me of you took blood from me and only me." He told her and she was silent.

"Onii-sama…" She didn't feel comfortable with the prospect of harming him in any way, but he didn't seem intent on letting her go any time soon either. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't."

"But-"

"You won't, I promise. If I share a secret with Yuki, would she keep it?" He asked and she nodded slowly against his shoulder. "It can be a rather pleasurable experience… and… I do enjoy pain if you are the one who gives it to me."

"I… Onii-sama is a masochist…" She accused and he simply smirked, not denying her claims. He wouldn't because it was the truth. If it were her he honestly could care less what was done to him.

"Yuki… you so easily fight me now. I think that school is a bad influence on you… or is it… that Yuki just doesn't like me anymore."

"Why do you say things like that?" She asked unhappily, pouting now. "You know it isn't true."

"Very well… if you say it isn't, I'll believe you."

"Mmmm…" He agreed entirely too easy for her liking… he was up to something.

"Only on one condition." He added. Of course, there it was. "That you take my blood. I don't want you to starve yourself, because you are afraid."

"I…" She froze at that. Of course, leave it to Kaname to pull a dirty trick like that on her and leave her with no choice. She gripped the collar of his white shirt and pulled it to the side a bit, nervously eyeing the spot she was supposed to bite.

"Don't hesitate." He said softly and she slowly leaned down and bit into the side of his throat, hesitating for a few moments, even though he had told her not to. She waited to see if he had a lot of pain, but she couldn't sense anything from him.

This was her first time ever having tasted blood. It was an odd experience, but not at all unpleasant as she had been expecting. It left her with a warm feeling of comfort she couldn't quite place, but just as she was sinking into the comfort she was confronted with the sight of something terrible. She jerked back away from him in sheer surprise. He tilted his head to the side in question.

"Onii-sama… I… there was something… scary there…"

He reached a hand up to touch her cheek gently, eyes showing he wasn't surprised. It made her question what exactly it was that she saw. He… was hiding something from her.

"Yes… it's something very scary, Yuki… I wish that you didn't have to see it." He slowly sat up. "I suppose you want to go now…"

"Onii-sama…?" She was confused, it was almost painfully clear in her voice.

"That scary thing is the true beast that I am. I would understand if Yuki would like to be away from me now." Kaname informed and she shook her head.

"No! It isn't-"

"You don't have to pretend… Yuki, you're shaking…" He held her hand gently and she looked down to see that he was telling the truth. She was shaking. "We'll go now."

"Onii-sama… please…" She held onto his arm and refused to let him get up. He was the one who was confused now. "It is scary… to see, but… I still definitely love Onii-sama."

"Hmm." He covered up the surprised look on his face with a blank expression. "Is that so? Even if you have to see scary things every time you drink my blood do you still feel that way?"

"But… it wasn't all scary…"

"Oh?" He tilted his head to the side, genuinely surprised with her. This was not at all the reaction he had expected from her. He thought she would leave him without a second glance. She slid her hands slowly down his arm to take his hand.

"There were nice things."

"Nice things?"

She nodded. "But if Onii-sama wants to go…"

"We can stay… if you're not afraid." He stated and she shifted closer to be by his side, not speaking a single word more. She didn't confirm it, but she also didn't deny it and that troubled him. He sighed quietly. "Let's just go home. Besides… I am sure Okaa-sama and Otou-sama would be excited to hear about this."

The walk home was silent and the storm clouds started to roll in, covering the once blue sky and hiding the clear warm sun.

"We're home." Kaname called and was greeted with silence. "Ah, they must be out."

"Where did they go?" She asked, taking his hand gently, trying to get close to him since he seemed to be veering off into a dark state that he sometimes fell into.

"I do not know, Yuki." He tilted his head down to watch her, furrowing his brow. She seemed to be acting a bit odd. It was worrying him.

"Onii-sama… why are you so sad?" She asked him softly, frowning.

"Yuki… I am not-"

"Did I do something wrong?"

He sighed and set his freehand on top of her head gently. "Yuki… it is not that at all… I just have a lot to think about. You understand, don't you?" At her dejected look, he lifted her up and took her into the living room, finding the rocking chair and sitting down in it. "Please do not be unhappy."

"I'm not unhappy." She assured him, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his shoulder.

"Hmmm…" He breathed deeply and set one hand on her back so she couldn't pull away from him and he could feel her confusion. "Yuki is also hiding something else from me… I know… because I can smell it."

"I don't…" She tried to push away, realizing he knew, but it was pointless.

"You should know by now that you cannot hide things from me, Yuki… I knew before you even told me. I could smell it even then; I just thought it would be best if you told me, rather than me telling you that I was aware." He sighed deeply and turned his face into her neck.

She stiffened as soon as she felt his fangs graze, what was she supposed to do? Was there something specific she needed to do for this occasion, or not?

He exhaled a shuddery breath against shoulder. "Would you let me…?"

"You can have my blood…" She trailed slowly. He inhaled and she felt his fangs graze, right as the sound of the door opening forced him to pull away.

He hadn't been thinking straight at all in that moment, he was grateful that Haruka and Juri had come home right at that moment. He settled for giving her a lingering kiss on the cheek.

"I am sorry…. I will not do it again." He pressed another kiss to the same spot. "You should go and tell Okaa-sama. She will be very happy about you becoming a lady." He smiled slightly.

"Are you, Onii-sama?"

"Of course. Soon you and I will be able to be happy together, no?" He asked, tilting his head to the side, she seemed surprised at his words.

"Ahh, Yuki, Kaname." Haruka entered the room, hanging up his coat on the rack, but he paused and sniff the air slowly. "Yuki are you hurt?"

Hearing those words from the door Juri was in the room right away as well. "What is the matter?"

Yuki flushed a deep red now, so Kaname had known right away as well. It was only today and she had thought she had taken care of it well enough on her own.

"Yuki is not hurt." Kaname stated calmly as ever, he could be talking about the weather in fact, he had said it so calmly. Why did he have to talk about her personal lady things so bluntly?!

"Oh, I see." Juri said, slapping her hands on either side of her face. "Come, Yuki. We went over the first part of this, but we have much to discuss."

Kaname watched as Yuki inched away from him slowly, obviously embarrassed as she went over and left the room to the main bedroom with Juri. Neither male dared to go anywhere near that room, least they might hear something that they didn't desire to hear.

"You handled that well…" Haruka stated. "I must admit I did not handle it quite so well."

"Of all the days you send me off to spend the day with her… you pick the cruelest…" Kaname mused, unpleased.

"I knew nothing. I swear it." Haruka said quickly, holding a hand over his heart to indicate honesty. He had been around long enough to know it was truth.

"I did not believe you would do so purposely and endanger her with me."

Haruka lowered his hand and stared at him. "Kaname… I know you would never hurt Yuki. No matter what."

"I pray you are right." He replied with uncertainty.

"There is an upcoming Soirée." Haruka told him, eyes holding a bit of concern. "It is for those up support us, but I've no doubt there will be spies."

"I will handle it." Kaname promised.

"I was not asking-"

"No, but you did not have to. I will keep Yuki safe from all outside threats, even if I cannot guarantee safety from myself."

He stepped up and patted Kaname lightly on the head, before ruffling his hair into a mess. "You do just fine, Kaname. I trust you. I know you. You'll take care of her." He walked away then without another word, not because he didn't know what else to say, but simply because there was nothing left to say.

XxXxX

Crowded. That was the single word that described this event. Their winning streaks and prowess had drawn much attention to those that believed in the cause.

During this time, he casually surveyed the surroundings. Of course there were guards, but spies didn't get caught by guards. At least not the good ones. His attention was drawn to Yuki when he noticed her and Juri speaking with Aido and his son Hanabusa.

She was safe at least. Though the likelihood of an attempt on her life was moderately low, it was a possibility he worried about quite often. Slowly making his way through the crow, he noticed it, a guest sneaking off where a guest shouldn't be sneaking to. Where they had instructed them not to go.

"Hmm…" He set his wine glass on the table, paying no mind to the white, bubbling pill inside that substituted for the blood he could not have.

He quickly tailed the man, cloaking himself within his closest ally; shadows. Shadows were what he was made of, shadows lurked from the bottom of his heart to his very soul.

He slowly moved down the hall and grabbed a hunter's sword from one of the armored knights along the wall. He ignored the shocking bolt of pain that it caused and continued after the man until he saw him enter into Aido's main office. The door closed and there was a flickering of a candle light as it was light, lines of light glowing beneath the door.

His lips twitched up into a grim smile that housed absolutely no humor whatsoever. He stopped along the wall and pushed the door open silently, finding the man crouching over the desk and digging for whatever he thought looked useful.

"I hate to interrupt, but… you do not belong here." He stated, fangs glinting in the flicker of the candle light and eyes dancing threateningly.

"Kaname-sama, I must have gotten lost. My mistake." The man said, frozen like stone, but trying to maintain composure.

"I cannot allow for mistakes, dog of the council."

Out in the main dining hall Yuki had noticed Kaname sneaking off down the hall. Nobody else had noticed. She decided to follow after him quickly, tugging away from her mother and speeding past guests who hardly noticed her presence until she was gone.

Once she turned the corner she lost sight of Kaname. Gazing down the darkened hallway she noticed the candle light coming from a room and also noticed a shadow. It must be her Onii-sama. She thought it was for sure with the way that shadow carried itself.

Sneaking down the hallway she leaned against the edge of the wall and peeked around the corner, only to be met with a gruesome and horrifying sight. Her Onii-sama removing the head of a vampire in one smooth strike, which soon turned to ash before it even, hit the ground. His face was cold and unemotional as he committed the act.

He tossed the sword into the pile of ash, before slowly looking at her. His face and hair both stained with that vampire's blood. It must have splattered from the cut. She could not see his eyes, hidden behind a curtain of shadows and bloodstained hair. For the first time in her life she was afraid of him. He looked like a beast from a nightmare or a monster from a bedtime story. As one drop of blood slowly dripped from his hair and as if in slow motion… fell and hit the floor, she turned and ran as quickly as she possibly could.

Kaname slowly raised a hand to touch his blood covered face. "Run as far away from me as you can. Run away from my tainted soul. It is for the best…" He exhaled slow and long, closing his eyes. "Yuki…"

XxXxX

TBC...

Thanks for reading, please do leave a review and stay tuned for the next installment. God Bless~


	4. Where There is Smoke There is Fire

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or it's characters and I make no profit off these writings. I do however own the placement of words and how they are arranged.

A/N I had no idea this chapter would be so long, but hopefully it makes up for the wait.

XxXxX

Two years later…

A great many things changed after that night. The following week, Yuki went to Cross academy to study and he was left fighting the war, but he didn't wish for anything to be different. It was better this way. It was possible that… no… he was sure that she would be much happier.

"Kaname-sama," Aido's voice broke through his train of thought and he looked up so suddenly it startled his horse, in turn startling Aido's. he raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You were thinking about Yuki-sama? No?"

Kaname slowly looked over at Aido, hesitant to reply. "Yes… I apologize… this is no place."

"Kaname-sama… if it is of any help at all… my son Hanabusa is at the school as well. He would never let any harm come to our princess." He assured.

"I thank you, Aido… I do trust your son quite a bit. He has always been a loyal friend and it is more than I could have ever asked for." He glanced up. "Like father like son. You raised him well."

"You do not have to flatter me, Kaname-sama." Aido offered a smile and set a hand on the boy's shoulder. He thought Kaname was still a boy, he had yet to grow into his uniform or boots, but he would soon. "You'll get the hang of all this. You're a magnificent leader."

"And yet I have never cared much for being a leader." Kaname admitted, glancing around slowly. The night was young and there was a brilliant full moon, but it was a bit hard to see in certain places where there were thick patches of fog and thick underbrush of the forest.

"I don't think many ever ask to be leaders and those that do don't understand the full capacity and responsibility that comes with it."

"No. I would suppose you are right."

"A great man once said, nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

Kaname looked at him slowly. "The American president?" He asked with some humor in his voice and when Aido simply nodded both men chuckled softly. "I agree entirely."

"I do as well." He nudged his horse forward and the two started down the quiet path. "You know, perhaps we can get you home for Christmas. We've been fighting long and hard for so long, I am sure it would be fine. I am guess you would love to see Yuki again."

"As much as I would love to see her… it is not my wish to leave the battlefield even for a moment. If I was to leave and something happened then all our progress and hard work would be lost." Kaname replied.

"The front has been silent for some time."

"That is exactly why I am worried." He replied quickly, shifting a bit in the saddle to better see Aido, since he was one who preferred to look at the person he was speaking with. Especially when it was something as serious as this.

"Kaname… I don't believe anything is going to happen. They are probably celebrating as well. Maybe it will snow-" He was cut off by a rustling and they both set a hand on their respective weapons, prepared for whatever may happen. Suddenly a shadow leapt from the bushes and Aido exhaled. "Just a deer… Kaname?"

He noticed he still hand a hand on his weapon and before he even looked back there was a volley of bullets raining down on them. Kaname quickly dismounted and sent his trusty steed the other way, while Aido mirrored his actions before they took over behind a fallen tree.

"We're pinned down. Hopefully the horses make it back and they will send help." Kaname stated, shifting uncomfortably. "In the meantime… one of us is going to have to make a move."

Aido shifted, trying to see in the dark. "You've been injured." He indicated his arm, but he shrugged it off. "I should go."

"No. You distract them. Suppress them with fire and I will try to sneak around. That is a direct order, Aido." He said firmly and left no room for arguing.

At this, Aido tossed him his rifle. "Then take this. You'll need it.

Quickly drawing a pistol, Aido waited until Kaname nodded, before aiming the gun over the top of the hiding place and firing. During that time he made a run for it, trying to come around the back and flank them. He only hoped Aido could distract them well enough and they would take the bait.

He had doubled back around and watched where the flares of muzzle blasts were coming from. He spotted it and slung the rifle over his shoulder, before climbing up into the tree. Upon reaching the highest branch he could that would support his weight and protect him from gunfire should it turn on him he reached over his shoulder for the rifle once more.

Wind whipped his shirt and hair blew into his eyes as he settled the rifle against his shoulder and looked down the sites. It may very well have been the first time he was ever grateful for being a vampire. He could see in the dark.

Once he spotted where their position was from his vantage point he raised the barrel to compensate for the distance and inhaled slowly, before holding his breath. He slid a finger to the trigger and squeezed, setting forth the mechanism of the rifle.

The firing pin struck the primer of the round. A single spark lit the powder. The powder burned. Gas forced the bullet from the shell. The bullet spun in the barrel. The barrel let out a puff of smoke like a dragon spitting fire as the bullet flew.

Kaname winced as the kick from the powerful rifle almost threw him from the tree he was in, but he managed to catch himself. Someone screamed. A hand reached for the bolt of the rifle, pulled up and back, put in another bullet and slid the bolt closed again, before holding his breath and firing again. Rinse and repeat, he continued to fire on the squad that was down range sixty yards or so, he couldn't be entirely sure of it, but it was his best guess.

A bullet struck right beside his head and splintered the wood of the tree and he winced and ducked, rubbing at the side of his face which had been grazed by splinters that had been flung up from the bullet.

He thought he was in for it, until there was a heavy sound of hoof beats thundering through the air and the Calvary rode in, charging in on the squad in the bushes that had ambushed them. He watched as they practically trampled over the enemy and leaned back against a heavy branch with a sigh.

"Kaname!" Haruka yelled. "Where is my son?" He asked rather frantically to Aido, who was out of breath.

"He ran off to try and flank the enemy." Aido informed. "I will help you find him."

Haruka nodded and a foot soldier handed Aido the reigns to a horse. He quickly mounted and they set off right away in search. Meanwhile Kaname climbed down from the tree slowly, rubbing at the shoulder and slowly making his way back.

That was when he heard the soft sound of hoof beats on the ground behind him. He raised his head and turned to look. And was not at all surprised.

"Shizuka…" He acknowledged.

"General Kuran… it is a pleasure." She said eyes boring into his through the dark.

"What is it you want from me, Shizuka?" Kaname asked her, keeping his guard up.

"I am not here to fight with you." Shizkua said, eyes softening a bit. "It truly is a pleasure… I owe you a great deal in freeing me from Rido."

"You owe me nothing. I was unable to defeat Rido. My father had that honor."

"Face it… you would not have been able to kill Rido… he was your master whom had awaken you after all. You knew that... and that is why… you took the blade in place of your father." She replied and he froze.

"How did you know the details of that night?" Kaname questioned now, this was serious.

"I have a great deal of information for you. That you will find useful. Think of it as payment for my freedom." She answered him.

"Kaname!" The voice of Haruka interrupted farther conversation as he and Aido rode up behind him, both taken aback by the sight of Shizuka there before them.

"Haruka-sama… it is good to see you again." She said to him.

"Hio-san, what are you doing here?" Haruka inquired and she offered a kind smile in return.

"I have some very interesting information for you."

XxXxX

The setting was a party, Haruka was at the head of the table with Cross, Aido and a few other nobles, hunters and the newly added Shizaku Hio to their joint council. They were currently in their private quarters of the mansion as the party was outside in the main ballroom.

"I believe General Kuran is owed a great deal of respect for his heroic acts in battle." Shizuka stated, smiling a bit. If any woman could be happy about her husband's death, none could be any happier than Shizuka.

"Indeed." Cross nodded. "When we stormed the group, they lead us right back to their camp. If Kaname had not acted in the way that he did I am afraid we would have lost a great deal of good men and be caught unaware."

"I disagree… I only acted as needed; as any other would have done." Kaname tried to sway them and get the attention off of himself.

"Kaname, don't be so modest." Haruka said, setting a hand on his shoulder. And with a deep sigh Kaname was silent.

"Haruka-sama… as I said we had information to discuss. I know who is leading these vampires." She told them and the room was silent. "It was Sara."

"You cannot be serious…" Aido gaped.

"I am. She is behind Icijo. The two of them… have been spending much time together. I stayed there and kept a watch over them. Rido was simply a ruse to distract you all."

Haruka leaned his chin on his hand. "Sara is quite powerful and influential as well… surly other purebloods have rallied behind her."

"Not as many as you may think. In my time there I only saw a few." She paused. "There is one more thing… the former head of the hunters is with them as well."

"This does not come as a surprise." Cross stated calmly. "I will handle him… if you will handle Sara."

"Agreed." Haruka said and nobody opposed. "Now… is that all there is to discuss?" There was silence and he nodded, standing and everyone else stood a moment after he did. "Let us enjoy this small reprieve from all our efforts on the front."

As everyone left the room, Kaname was about to take his leave as well, before he felt Haruka's hand on his shoulder once more.

"Otou-sama?" He asked face completely absent and reserved.

"Kaname… Yuki is here." Haruka said, offering a half smile.

"I… I am aware."

"Are you displeased?"

"Not at all… only… Yuki's interest in me is… lacking. She is more interested in that boy. The hunter one, you know him." Kaname replied with a frown, the slightest glint of fangs showing.

"Ahhh. Zero. You think she loves him as much as her beloved Onii-sama? I don't believe that Kaname and I don't think you do. Do you?"

"I do not know what to believe."

There was a short silence. "Well… let's go shall we?"

XxXxX

The room was full of many people and Yuki stood with her mother, it all reminded her of what happened two years ago. It happened long ago and since she had been going to Cross Academy since that night she had not seen him since.

"Are you excited, Yuki?" Her mother asked and she simply forced a small smile.

"I am…" Yuki replied and her mother frowned and set her hands on her hips.

"That doesn't sound like an excited tone, Yuki. Is something the matter?" This made Juri wonder if the separation had been such a good idea.

"Everything is fine."

"Don't like to your mother." Juri stated, unhappily.

"It's only… two years ago… I saw him… kill that vampire…"

"Yuki… as much as I hate the killing… Kaname didn't have a choice in the matter. He wants to protect you…" She knew she had said not to withhold information, but she still remembered after that night Kaname had come into their bedroom and dropped onto the bed, crying silently. She had never seen him that way before. He NEVER showed his weakness, but that night he did.

_It was early morning and she had been deep asleep when the door opened and the shadow slowly approached the end of the bed. It had woken her and she gasped in surprise._

"Kaname?" Juri asked softly. There was no reply, he only climbed up onto the bed in-between her and Haruka and sunk into the bed. Haruka had awoken as well at that, giving Juri a questioning look. She only shook her head to say she didn't know and set a soothing hand on Kaname's back. She pulled him into a warm motherly embrace and strokes his cheek gently and felt the tears. "Kaname… you're crying… what's the matter?"

Haruka seemed worried and sat up, setting a hand on Kaname's shoulder. "Kaname son… speak up, what is it?"

No matter how much they had prodded he never answered, only asked for comfort and stayed the night, but it didn't need to be said. They figured it out on their own. He believed that Yuki didn't love him anymore after what he had done.

"Will you see him?" Juri asked, snapping from her memory of that night.

"I will, Okaa-sama." Yuki promised and Juri nodded. There was a short silence before a figure snuck up on them.

"Haruka!"

"Juri!"

Yuki smiled and rolled her eyes as her parents embraced and looked away to give them their privacy in their reunion. Sometimes those two acted more like children then they did.

He chuckled quietly and gave his wife a loving kiss, before glancing at Yuki. He glanced back at Juri curiously and Juri just gave him a look that said she would explain later.

"Yuki, why don't you go and visit with Kaname? You haven't seen him much except holidays… I'm sure he'll be very happy." Haruka urged and she was left without much of a choice.

"I will go now." She turned and left them to their space, she wasn't sure if she really wanted to run into Kaname, however. She slowly headed to a less crowded area and that was when she noticed him, she hadn't seen him in so long and there he was. All dressed up in a fancy military uniform and lurking in the background to attempt and hide from people that wished to talk to him.

She watched him and he turned and their eyes met and she froze suddenly, not sure what to do or think or act. Everything faded out and just became background noise, before he started forward to approach her. He stopped a foot away, maintain distance.

"Yuki." He said softly.

"Onii-sama…" Neither moved nor spoke, before she glanced away and he sighed softly, expecting she would walk away, but instead she turned back to him and closed the space to embrace him in a hug. It shocked him beyond words. "I missed you…"

"And I you, Yuki. Are you well?" He asked her, gently bringing his arms up around her as well.

"I am. And you?"

"I am."

"I heard about what you did. That you saved many lives at the road." She said quietly. "They say you're a hero."

"I am no hero… I only did what I had to do. The real heroes are the ones who are unable to stand here with us and rejoice in the taste of our victory."

"You're a hero to me…"

"Hmmm…" He was silent, not saying a word as he just held her there; completely content to stay in this way with her.

"You… seem lonely… Onii-sama…" She whispered.

"I am fine. You do not have to concern yourself with my troubles… you might just break…"

"I won't." She pulled back a bit and set a hand on the side of his face gently. Even though she was still unsure of him and who he really was inside, she could not fight the memories of him in her mind. It was the sweet, gentle Onii-sama that was always there for her when she needed him.

He turned into the touch and set a hand over hers; furthering the notion of memories of him and the gentleness and care he had always offered and showed her.

"I love you." The words slipped past before she could press her lips together in a thin line and be silent. His eyes opened slowly and he stared at her in silence, before he stepped forward and tilted her chin up to gently press his lips to hers.

"And I love you… Yuki…" He pulled her into another embrace, tangling his fingers in her hair. "If you really want to make me feel better… perhaps you could dance with me, but it is okay if you do not want to do that."

"I… can't right now."

There was a short silence, before he allowed her to pull away. "That's alright. I understand." He informed and watched as she only stared at him for a moment, before looking down.

"I have to go. I am sorry…"

"I know you are, Yuki. I know you are." He said quietly, watching as she left him and went off where he couldn't follow. He could only guess that hunter boy was there. She was most likely going to go and visit with that boy.

XxXxX

Gunfire, swords clashing, screaming, yelling, the fog of war. It was all too consuming. So many things going on at once, they were being overwhelmed and soon they would all be killed, he watched, helpless to stop it, simply standing there as Haruka was cut down… and then Juri… and… Yuki… and… he couldn't… stop it… he was hopeless, helpless. He couldn't make it stop. Just make it stop. Everyone, everything… all of it… the ones he cared about, the one he loved. Gone in an instant.

Glass broke and a yell echoed throughout a pitch black room as he awoke from the nightmare, drenched in a cold sweat he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and felt his bare feet touch the cold floor, bring back some sense it was all a horrible dream. He buried his face in his hands and sighed deeply.

He dropped his hands into his lap and licked his dry lips, before glancing around the bedroom. He blinked for a moment, before standing and heading into the bathroom. He ran some cold water and watched the clean and clear substance swirling around the marble stone before going down the drain, before he splashed it onto his face to try and clear his head and wake up. Clean the sweat off and assure himself it was all a dream, before turning off the water and leaning his hands on the edge of the sink.

Slowly looking up he noticed the mirror was cracked, no doubt his loss of control from the dream. He stared at his split reflection in the mirror. A beast in the form of a man, his nature was revealed. His own eyes showed him the pain and loneliness he felt and could not mask no matter how hard he tried. Lying to everyone else that he was content was easy, but he could not lie to himself no matter how hard he tried. He was completely silent until a drop of water dripped from his chin and hit the edge of the counter and brought him out of his revere.

He had been so lost he had just now noticed the presence in pure white behind him. He blinked several times to cast away the illusion of darkness that taunted him so about his true nature, before watching the presence in the mirror.

When silence was all that came he cleared his throat. "Yuki… why are you awake?"

"I heard you from the other room… I… was worried… Onii-sama…" She mumbled meekly and he tilted his head to the side slightly. Did he dare to turn around?

More silence as she clenched her fists in her night gown and said not a single word, keeping her eyes on the ground. Things had changed between them since that night. His prediction had come true… Yuki feared him and hated him. Just at that thought his heart ached and he almost let the tears and a sob from deep within his soul escape, no… he could not think about it. Push it down, put it in a box. Lock it all away. He forced a smile and turned around to face her.

"I am fine… you can go to bed, Yuki." At his words her eyes lifted and as she caught sight of his bare chest she looked away again right away, blushing ever so slightly at the sight. She still loved him of course… in her own way. She was Yuki… with a heart so full of love… even for an unworthy creature such as himself.

"I… need to make sure you're okay first… and… I don't believe it right now… because you're shaking… Onii-sama…" She stepped closer to him cautiously and reached up, taking his face in-between both hands and stokes her fingers along his cheek very gently.

"You are the one who is shaking… Yuki…" He said softly, setting a hand over hers carefully.

"I-I'm not…"

"You should not lie." He told her, before inhaling slowly. "I can smell him on you again…"

He was completely displeased she was playing around with that hunter, the apprentice of Kaien. She spent most of her time with that hunter. It irritated him to no end.

"He's only my friend." Yuki stated, trying to convince the both of them, but failing completely.

"I…" It hurt… "Do whatever makes you happy. Be happy… even if I cannot be with you anymore. Just… be happy for me."

"Onii-sama… I… want to love you…" As she spoke he brought a hand up and tangled his fingers in her hair, absently playing with the strands. "You're the same as me… you're a beast, but… you're also fragile… and lonely… and… Onii-sama there's something evil about you that I just can't trust. You hide everything."

"Hmmm… Yuki is a cruel and terrible fiancée as well… spending your time with that boy…" He dropped his hand to his side. "You will have to choose eventually. Between him… and me."

"I know…" She whispered, backing away from him.

"I knew it. Of course I knew." He replied, tilting his head to the side once more. "The war will be over soon… and then everything will be normal."

There was darkness in their words as they parted ways and all was silent, he pressed a hand over his eyes and the mirror behind him cracked farther.

He slowly headed back to bed so he could attempt to catch up on some much needed rest when he froze as he detected the presence of that hunter. Instead, going against his better judgment he decided to follow the presence.

Grabbing the shirt he had tossed aside this morning he pulled it on and headed out of the room, there was no time to worry about being in sleep pants in front of the hunter, he didn't give a single damn what that boy thought of him.

He slowly made his way down the hall and frowned a bit when he noticed Yuki and the hunter talking, they were too close for his liking. Both stopped when they noticed his presence.

"Tch. Kuran… aren't you enough of a stalker?" Zero asked, scowling.

"To whom are you referring? I think I would much rather prefer death over stalking you, Kiryuu." At that Zero narrowed his eyes.

"Bastard. You know that isn't what I meant!"

"There's no reason to fight, Onii-sama. I was only visiting with Zero." Yuki cut in, in hopes of silencing them both.

"Yuki, I will ask you kindly to go to your room. I would like to speak with Zero alone." Kaname stated calmly, although the undertone of a threat was there, not towards her of course. Only towards Zero.

"No." She defied him and he glanced at her, there was no indication of emotion at all.

"Do as I've asked, Yuki."

"She said no, Kuran. What are you going to do if she doesn't?" Zero stated, crossing his arms over his chest in defiance.

"What are you implying…?" He asked, fangs bared now in irritation.

"Onii-sama don't hurt him." Yuki begged and Zero scoffed.

"As if he could hurt me."

"I grow tired of your arrogance." He said stepping forward and Yuki stepped in between them, grabbing Kaname's arm.

"I'll go to my room if you come with me." She told him and he furrowed his brow.

"You desire to protect this hunter that much?" He asked, and before it could come up, he cut down any and all emotions. He couldn't afford to feel right now otherwise he was afraid of what may happen.

"I don't need protection from him, Yuki." Zero said unhappily, prepared to get in between them and Kaname decided he wouldn't let that happen.

"Very well. Kiryuu, return to your home. I am sure your parents would not be happy with you visiting a pureblood vampire outside of school." He shot back.

"You bastard. Don't bring them into this."

Before anymore insults could be slung, Yuki tugged on Kaname's arm and pulled him along with her to her room. Of course she was afraid of him, but it was the only option at this point. Zero muttered one last insult that she felt Kaname tense to, but she didn't catch it exactly and pulled him into her room and closed the door behind them.

She glanced up at him and his lips twitched up into a grin, but there was absolutely no humor of any kind behind that smile. He only smiled like that (if one could even call it a smile) when he was extremely upset.

"Please… don't make a face like that…" She requested and he looked away from her instead. It surprised her. She realized she had never seen him this upset before. She needed to think fast and even though it terrified her to ask she did anyway. "Onii-sama… will you stay and sleep here with me. Like old times?"

"There is no need to do something that you do not want to." He replied, still not looking directly at her.

"Please?" She said as gently as she could, reaching for his hand. He looked hurt and upset and angry and sad and depressed all at once, like he didn't know what to feel. She led him over and sat him down, before sitting next to him and just holding him gently. "It's okay… it's alright."

He sighed deeply, before wrapping his arms around her waist and buried his face against her shoulder for the comfort he needed.

"I'm so sorry… that I hurt you so much." She whispered and stroked her fingers through his hair, trying everything that might help him. He didn't reply, only held her closer and closed his eyes.

"I'm so tired…" He finally said.

"Then rest… I'll still be here when you wake up…" When there was only silence, she realized he had fallen asleep. She also realized… that things had to change; because he was fighting so hard and she was letting her fears get in the way. "I promise… I'll take care of you now."

XxXxX

TBC...

A/N I really wanted that scene between Kaname and Haruka and Juri since I thought it would be interesting to see him seeking comfort from a parental figure for once. He has a lot of pressure on him and I wanted to show that. And having the battle scene was interesting to write. I want more of those for sure. So if anyone has any ideas do let me know.

Leave a review, thanks for reading and God Bless~


	5. The Trap

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or it's characters and I make no profit off these writings.

A/N The next chapter. It is very dramatic. Prepare yourselves! And gosh... I am just so happy with chapter 89! XD

XxXxX

During the past few years, Kaname had grown accustom to waking up to the smell of wood fire from the soldiers in camp trying to keep warm on cold nights, however... waking up to the scent of a sweet scent of strawberry wasn't something he was used to.

"Yuki…" He said quietly, glancing over at her and found her sleep and curled into his side, it reminded him of a long time ago. He had the urge to just grab her and pull her into a hug and never let her go, but he forced it down.

He watched her for a long while, before she finally woke and jumped only slightly surprised to see him there until she remembered last night. She reached up a hand to touch his face gently and he leaned into that touch.

"You do not have to force yourself, Yuki… I understand if you hate me."

"Onii-sama… I never hated you…" She whispered quietly. He gave her a surprised look and was about to speak farther until there was a knock at the door. "It's Okaa-sama… if she finds out you're in here…"

The both of them looked towards the door with dread. Yes. It would be doom if he was caught in her room with her. He quickly got up and made his way over to the window, but Yuki stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and held up his coat. Ah, of course, he couldn't forget that.

"Yuki…" He said as he backed up to the window and she followed; helping him put the coat on in a hurry as he prepared to make his escape. "I love you."

She paused and glanced up at him. "I love you too."

He leaned down and kissed her deeply, he felt happy and unlike he had in a very long time. Her grip tightened on his coat as she pulled him closer and he lingered for a few seconds longer, before pulling away far too soon for his liking and jumped out the window.

"Onii-sama…" She called quietly and he stopped for a moment. "Maybe next time… we can dance."

He offered her a smile. "I would like that."

The door opened a few moments after and Yuki turned to find her mother standing there with a questioning look.

"Yuki… I called several times… I thought you were still asleep." Juri said and Yuki simply offered a slight smile in return.

"I was just distracted."

"I see…"

XxXxX

Shortly after that break, they were back on the war front. It had at least warmed up considerably from the cold and many were grateful to be out of the frigid weather. There had been great progress in the war effort, even if the lines of victory tended to be barrowed most of the time.

"Kaname…" Haruka said. "You look like you're in a good mood. Did something happen?"

Said young man paused and turned to glance at him. "Well… yes."

"Oh?" He waited patiently if he son would speak and tell him more about it. "Hm? Kaname, aren't you going to tell me?"

"Hn. It seems that this area is very defendable. There's only one way for them to attack since we have the sea at our backs." Kaname rambled on about war strategies to change the subject. Haruka started laughing suddenly.

"Oh, Kaname… you could just tell me it's something about Yuki isn't it?"

"And then we could also call in reinforcements by sea if we need them." He continued, ignoring Haruka's words. "Ahem… and you see… we could set up some watch men in the trees along the line here… and… erm… father… you're making me nervous with that smile…"

"I'm sorry, Kaname. It can't be helped. I'm so glad to see you this happy for once." Haruka walked up behind him and patted his shoulder lightly. "You make me proud… son…"

Kaname froze and glanced at him in surprise, he hadn't at all expected those words from him. All this time, even though Juri had been so kind and told him how much they loved him he had shoved it down thinking it was too good to be true, but they were too honest of people to tell such a lie. He knew, yet he was expecting a lie anyway. Only so he couldn't be let down again.

"Mmm. You can't be speaking seriously just now." He muttered and Haruka huffed and rolled his eyes, before pulling Kaname over to him and ruffling his hair.

"That's my cute boy! Acting all manly and serious!"

"Ack!"

"Come Kaname! Rough house with your father for once!"

"Ah, no thank you."

"Ah?! What's this? So polite even in a choke hold?"

A few soldiers looked on in surprised at their leader, before some started laughing and others just shrugged and continued on with their tasks.

XxXxX

Far off in town away from the mansion Yuki was out shopping with a couple body guards. It was a free day off and she had spent most of the day thinking about Kaname and when she might see him again. If it would be a long time or not. She assumed it would be.

After making up with him she knew she had never seen such a look on his face before and he had been so abnormally energetic. She was glad though that she could make him smile like that. She smiled slightly to herself as she paid for a book and left the store with the guards trailing close behind. The book was for Kaname, she knew how much he enjoyed reading trivial books.

All of a sudden a black car pulled up, the windows rolled down and those inside opened fire. One of the guards tackled her to the ground, but the men were getting out of the car and it all happened to fast as it all suddenly went black.

XxXxX

Haruka was still busy teasing Kaname when they both froze as a man quickly rode up to them holding a letter.

"General Kuran! It's urgent from Juri-sama! Yuki has been taken." The man said, the look on his face was that of terror of what may happen from here on out.

"What…?" Haruka quickly took the letter and tore it open, reading it. "I… it's a ransom… they want Kaname to show up alone…"

"I'll do it…" Kaname said right away.

"It's a trap Kaname." Haruka replied sharply.

"I know, however it may be our only option." There was a silence for a few moments before Haruka realized it was right.

"Don't do anything dangerous… Kaname…"

"Bring me a horse." Kaname stated and the courier dismounted.

"Take mine, General… he's fast." The man said and Kaname nodded, getting onto the horse while Haruka handed him the letter.

"It has the instructions… Kaname… please be careful and do your best to get Yuki back." Haruka begged even though he knew this was only a trap and couldn't end well. There was no other option.

"I will." Kaname spurred the horse into action and they tore down the beach, kicking up sand and headed into the forest. He clenched the reigns tightly and gritted his teeth. How dare they try and go after Yuki. He would make sure they would pay dearly for this great mistake.

He soon found himself in the place he was supposed to meet and noticed two men waiting there on horses.

"You're the general?" One asked.

"You have Yuki?" Kaname cut straight to the point and both men looked at one another, knowing that it was in fact him.

"Come with us. And don't do anything stupid or Sara-sama will kill her." The other said right away and they were quick to lead him to a mansion. They dismounted and both men grabbed him as if that would hold him. He wanted to scoff, but fought it.

He was lead into a room, before one of the men grabbed his jacket. "Take that off. Don't want any weapons on you."

"I can turn you to ash with a look and you are concerned with weapons?" Kaname asked, with a raised eyebrow and the man scowled at him, but he soon complied and gave it to him. It wasn't important.

"Just stay here. One wrong move and she's dead." He stated.

"Sama? A hunter referring to a vampire in such a manner? I feel sorry for you, she really has you whipped." Kaname replied with a smirk.

The man's jaw was clenched like a sprung bear trap at this point and he desperately wanted to kill the pureblood, but he relaxed realizing Sara was going to make sure he was taken care of. He left the room swiftly with that in mind.

He heard an odd sound and glanced over towards the wall and watched as it slid upwards and opened up to revel another room.

"Sara-san… how extravagant with your special room here. I wouldn't expect less of you." Kaname stated as he saw her. she simply smirked and stepped aside to revel Yuki bound and gagged and tied to a chair, his eyes widened and he stepped forward, but jerked back at a sudden searing pain in his hand when he reached out.

"Kaname… you should know better. You can't come past this point. The hunters taught me a very interesting trick to stop vampires without permission from entering certain rooms." She held a sadistic smile as she removed the blind fold and pulled the cloth down so Yuki could see and speak.

"Onii-sama, run away!" She yelled right away and cried out in pain when Sara dug her nails into her neck to silence her.

"STOP!" Kaname shouted and stepped forward again, with only the same results of getting burned severely. He held his arm and glared at her. "If you hurt Yuki again I'll-"

"You're so gullible!" Sara laughed at him. "You fell right into my trap."

"I knew it was a trap." Kaname muttered lowly.

"Did you now…?" Sara asked, slowly licking Yuki's blood from her fingertips and Kaname just about lost himself and charged into that wall again. "You are here, in my spider web… flown into it so willingly, but… unbeknownst to you Ichijo is leading an attack against your men. Oopsy… does that give it away?"

Kaname's eyes widened significantly. "What…?"

"That's right. Without you and your powers… they're doomed." She replied. "I have a deal for you… if you give me your life… I'll let Yuki live."

"My life?" It didn't really surprised him at all, but he had to wonder what there was that she wasn't saying.

"Without you they're like bumbling little chicks. Completely helpless… if you're out of the picture I'll definitely become queen. If not… I'll just kill Yuki and be done with it."

Kaname's eyes shifted to look at the floor, before rising back up to Yuki's. Her eyes begged him not to, but he couldn't let her die. His life would be meaningless without her. Sara didn't seem to understand that combined Juri and Haruka were a force to be reckoned with. They didn't need him. They never had.

"Alright. Take my life. Let Yuki go." Kaname said and Sara brightened up immediately, clapping her hands together. The door opened and Zero entered the room and Sara took his gun. "Kiryu… I should have known…"

"Shut up, Kuran." Zero said lowly. Sara giggled in a sadistic manner as she walked up to Kaname with Zero's gun and shot him through the knee and force him to drop down onto it.

"How fun. Kuran Kaname bowing down to me." Sara said, before pressing the gun to his head. "And now… the world… belongs to me."

She pulled the trigger and blood splattered to the ground and there was a dull thud. Sara smirked and blew the smoke from the gun.

Yuki stared in terror as she watched. This couldn't be real, it couldn't be real. She had shot Kaname in the head and he wasn't moving at all. An anti-vampire weapon.

"Onii-sama…?" She asked softly. "Onii… sama…? Kaname?"

XxXxX

TBC...


	6. Prelude To Battle

Disclaimer: I do not own this, but I am borrowing the characters to play with them and bend then to my will for awhile.

A/N I wanted to give a quick update on this chapter so you didn't have to wait for a really long time. And not to mention I'm so very pleased with chapter 89 still. The next chapter is going to be a big battle.

* * *

"Onii-sama…?" She asked softly. "Onii… sama…? Kaname?"

Zero watched in completely stoic silent as it all went on, Sara's pretty white dress was now stained with blotched of red and she seemed delighted with it, not disgusted. Finally Zero stuffed a hand in his pocket and stepped forward.

"So you finally have what you want, Sara. What are you going to do with it?" He asked.

"I'm going to kill the rest of the Kurans, but before that… little Yuki is going to report back to her father and tell him what's happened."

"Why would you do that?" Zero continued walking over to nudge Kaname with his foot, only to get no movement in return.

"Isn't it obvious? Haruka Kuran will be devastated by the news and won't be able to function at his full capacity. Enabling a swift defeat." Sara replied, staring at him as if he were an idiot, tossing his fun back to him.

"And if Yuki rebels?" Zero asked as he holstered his gun.

"She's like a kitten… she can hiss, but in the end her claws are too small and weak to even break the skin." Sara started to walk out. "And make sure to dispose of _his_ ashes. They're going to be making a mess on my floor."

As she disappeared Zero kneeled next to Kaname and glanced down at him in silence for a moment, he said nothing, making the room silently, save for a few sniffles as Yuki tried to hold it together, but failed miserably.

"Why, Zero…? Why are you helping them…?" She asked, but he ignored her and rolled Kaname onto his back and pushed his head to the side to see the bullet wound. The door opened and a young vampire stepped in, eyes wide at the scene.

"It's done…?"

"Ichijo… you should take care of Yuki. I'll deal with Kaname." Zero replied.

"He's…"

"Just go." Zero said sternly and the Ichijo quickly went over to Yuki and untied her, he had to hold her back from going to Kaname the second she was free.

"Come, Yuki… we have to go out of this room now." He slowly led her out and she said absolutely nothing only clenched her fists. She couldn't believe this was happening. She told herself it wasn't happening, yet it didn't make it any less real.

Ichijo removed his jacket and draped it over her shoulders, before quickly leading her down the hallway and keeping his eyes open for anyone else that may be here, but everyone was either preparing for the battle or already at the field.

"This way, come Yuki…" He quickly lead her around a corner and at the end of the hall was a door, he quickly pulled her along with him.

"I can't… I can't leave, Kaname is… I can't leave him!" She struggled against him, but the ropes that bound her had been infused with a spell that drained her energy and she was extremely weak and tired.

"We can talk when we get out of here, it isn't what it seems…" Takuma assured, quickly opening the door to revel it led outside and she looked confused as he led her a long distance away down the giant yard to the edge of the forest where there were a few horses waiting.

"What…"

"Yuki-sama… my name is Ichijo Takuma… and I'm a friend of Kaname's. His inside informant." He informed her and her eyes grew wide in surprise.

Meanwhile Zero has hoisted Kaname up onto his shoulder and followed suit of where Takuma had taken Yuki.

"Ugh, Kuran you're pretty damn heavy." He grumbled unhappily having to carry him. He continued down, right as he turned the corner to the exit he froze. Guards stood there investigating the open door that should be sealed.

He was about to back out, before he slammed into someone behind him, he found another guard and Sara standing there.

"Zero… was is this…?" She asked with her narrowed eyes burning into him. "He should be ash by now… what did you do?"

"Tch." Zero only smirked and hoisted Kaname up higher on his shoulder, knowing there was no way to get them both out of here now he was going to at least try his best to protect the unconscious pureblood. "I switch the bullets in the gun."

"You betray us all. I thought you understood how much better it would be if I were queen… I would have made you my right hand."

"As much as I hate Kuran… I hate you more. You're willing to take over the whole world and make everyone vampires! At least the Kurans like humans." Zero smirked slightly at the irritated look on her face.

"The little kitten I'll willingly let leave so she can report back to her father… but the two of you? You won't be going anywhere… in fact… you've given me an even better idea than the one I had before. Maybe you thought you were saving the human race, Kiryuu… but you couldn't be more wrong." She glared at them. "Take them both away and put the young Kuran in my chambers."

The guards approached and Zero quickly drew his gun, getting off a few rounds before the guards overwhelmed him.

Outside Takuma quickly looked over as he heard the gunshots and his eyes widened when he realized they had to have been caught.

"Yuki-sama… let's go…" He said slowly.

"Wait! We can't leave! We can't…" She struggled against him, before her emotions became out of control and Takuma found himself tossed into a tree against the force of her power and was stirring up a storm in the weather.

"Yuki-sama, please!" He shouted, getting up and fighting a gust of wind to catch her as she fell. "You've used up too much energy…" He quickly pulled her onto a horse with him and spurred it forward in a hurry. He couldn't linger as much as it killed him to leave Kaname and Zero behind. He had to take Yuki to safety.

XxXxX

In the darkness of her chambers a guard tossed Kaname onto Sara's bed and backed up a few steps to watch as she slowly approached the unconscious pureblood.

"Amazing… anti-vampire bullets or not… this wound is healing so fast… I've never seen anything quite like it. Perhaps I've misjudged Kaname…" She leaned over him and turned his head to the side to investigate the wound that was practically already healed.

"Sara-sama… what do you plan to do with that trash?" The guard asked, getting uneasy.

"I'm going to use him as a weapon against his own…" She leaned down and sank her fangs into the side of his throat violently and without remorse, taking in a lot of things all at once. She had to stumble back and fell onto the floor.

"Sara-sama!" The guard shouted and helped her up. "What's wrong? Are you alright?!"

"I… I see…" She stuttered, overwhelmed by feeling his emotions and raw powers. "Kaname Kuran is not Kaname Kuran… he's someone else… and much more powerful than I expected… I think… he's going to make the perfect weapon…" The guard helped her up and she slowly approached Kaname and set a hand over his head lightly. "I'm going to alter his memory… and become the woman from his past… he wouldn't dare disobey…"

Tonight Sara was creating a new servant to fight for tomorrow's battle; her mind was filled with dark thoughts. She would have her way and she would be queen. There was nobody that could stop her now since she had the most powerful beast of them all.

* * *

TBC...

Oh, you didn't think I'd go and kill him did you? And of course Zero isn't evil. He's a good guy in my book, even if he can be mean sometimes, but so can Kaname. I just don't think Zero is good for Yuki is all.


	7. Sunset Music Box

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight or it's characters and I make no profit off these writings.

A/N This is it. The final battle. Let me know who's speech you liked better and if you find the end fitting. This is the longest chapter that I have stayed up super late to finish. It is exactly 4:35 am. Have fun reading, I know I enjoyed writing.

XxXxX

The camp had been setting on a nervous edge all day. There was something bad in the air and they all knew it. Suddenly a horse came ridding up and everyone tensed, before noticing it was Takuma with Yuki.

Haruka quickly ran out to meet them as they arrived in the camp. Juri was there as well, having come all the way here in terror for the fate of what may befall her daughter. She was relieved to see her, but a different kind of fear struck her. Haruka pulled Yuki down from the horse and walked her to his tent where he could put her to rest.

"She's completely worn out." Juri said in worry.

Takuma dismounted and followed them into the tent. "She used up her powers when she lost control of her emotions… Kaname was captured… Zero intended to fake his death and help him escape, but they were found out. I don't know what's become of them."

"Oh, my poor Kaname… and Zero's parents will be devastated…" Juri gasped in shock and held a hand over her mouth.

"That isn't all. They've made their move…"

"Yes, we fought a large group off last night…" Haruka replied.

"No… this is it… Haruka-sama… they're attacking with all their forces." Takuma replied, clasping his hands together nervously.

"I see… then this is truly the end of the war…" He stated. "We will not lose and we will save them."

"Right." Takuma replied, although he had the slightest bits of doubt in his mind. He was afraid they'd be too late. Haruka quickly went outside and left Juri to attend to Yuki as he went out to prepare the men for the battle and Takuma bowed to Juri, before following after Haruka.

She sighed softly and checked Yuki over carefully for any serious injuries, but she found none. While there was some blood on her, any wound was long since healed. She sat with her and gently stroked her hair back just as she did when Yuki was a child to put her to sleep after a nightmare. She sat for while seemed for hours, but finally she stirred.

"Okaa-sama…" She quickly sat up and latched onto her mother tightly, like a child needing comfort from a terrible nightmare. "Kaname is…"

"I know, Yuki… I know." Juri held her daughter in her arms and rocked her lightly in attempts to calm her and comfort her.

XxXxX

"You're finally awake… Kaname…" A low voice drawled and the confused pureblood sat up and looked around slowly. Sara slowly approached him and draped her arms around his shoulders. "I've waited for you to wake up for a long time."

"I… don't remember… anything…" He raised a hand to his head.

"Don't you remember me…?" She asked, pouting, but inwardly smirking at his confusion. Her plans were turning out perfectly.

He lowered his hand and stared at her for a few moments. "I… can't… you… why…" He stumbled around words, trying to search for the right things in his jumbled mind. "I feel… like… I have missed you for a long time… you're her… from… back then…"

"That's right. That was me."

"You have a different feel…"

"You were asleep for a long time… things changed." Sara replied simply and he only stared at some place on the floor. "Kaname… I need you to do something for me…" He looked questioningly at her and she smiled. "The war is on… we have to fight together. I need your power again."

"We have to protect the humans…" He muttered lowly.

"No." She said and his eyes snapped up to hers suddenly. "I have a plan… much better than protecting their humanity. We'll turn all humans into vampires. Complete equality."

"But-"

"Hush…" She said pressing her fingers over his lips to silence him, but he brushed her hand away and continued anyway.

"Equality is impossible as nice as it would be… they wouldn't all survive and they would be much lower ranking… they would only be able to serve as slaves… it will take away their freedom."

"Kaname, don't you love me?" She asked, frowning and his breath caught in his throat.

"I thought… we believed in the same thing…"

"Please… do this for me… help us win this final war… and then we can finally be at peace as it was meant to be."

"Maybe we are the ones that weren't meant to be. Vampires… shouldn't even exist." He replied and she slapped him.

"Don't say such a thing. It's the humans who shouldn't exist anymore. I need your help. Will you do it or will you worthlessly rot away. I saved your life and this is how you repay me?" She asked and stood up and turned her back to him. It made his heart ache that the person he thought he cared about would do that to him.

"No… no… it is not that… I… you're out of character… forgive me. I'll do what you wish for…" He replied, lowering his eyes.

"Good boy." She said slowly, smiling wickedly. "Come… stand with me while I make the final speech." She said and he slowly got up to follow her outside to the balcony. Below awaited thousands of soldiers that gazed up at their queen with absolute admiration.

"It is time. Finally we are going to go to war with the Kurans and we will not fail. Our numbers are larger and our people are stronger. They think that leaving the humans and vampires the way things are is the right way. That we should hide from the humans, but I say that we should show ourselves to them. We should make them our own.

"We will have one single order of power in the entire world and everyone will be equal. The weak and the ill humans are outdated. We are the new humanity. We are better and stronger. This is how it is meant to be. We will defeat them today and we will finally have peace and equality forever! We are going to change the world!"

"Sara is our messiah!" A man cheered from the crowd and the rest rose up into roars, some women cried and fainted in the crowd for their leader.

"She is the chosen one! She is our queen!"

Kaname frowned behind her and said nothing, only looked down. He had seen this before in the war ages ago. For once in his life he was truly terrified at how easily these people submitted and were lolled into a trance and how history could possibly repeat itself like this. The vampires had tried this before, it didn't work then, why did she think it would work now and why had her attitude suddenly changed to that of arrogant and self-righteous? He had to talk her out of this somehow.

XxXxX

In the silence of the camps, Haruka had personally been working with his soldiers, he had to make sure everyone was ready. This battle would be hard; they were outnumbered with all the fledglings that Sara and her minions had created.

He sighed quietly and stepped back into the tent to check on Juri and Yuki. He frowned a bit when he saw them. They were both devastated, he was on the verge of falling apart as well, but he knew he had to remain strong for all of their sake otherwise they would fall.

"How are you fairing?" Haruka asked softly and Juri glanced at him with saddened eyes.

"Haruka… please don't be concerned with us… put us far from your mind… you have to fight for our feature… for our children's feature." She said and he nodded, before stepping back outside.

He looked down at all the solemn soldiers that sat in the camp, eating what would be a last meal for some of them. Their lives were in his hands, these people all had families… wives, husbands, children, mothers, fathers. It was a heavy burden to carry the thought that the orders you had to give were going to take away somebody's son or daughter, wife or husband, father or mother. It tore his heart apart, but this was the price of freedom.

He sighed deeply as he prepared to make a speech. Takuma settled a hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly.

"My fellow brothers and sisters… today is the day when we put everything on the line." He spoke up and the soldiers stood for him, removing their hats solemnly. "It all comes down to this moment. I know that you're afraid and I won't lie to you… that some of you are going to die, but bear in mind that we die for something so much greater than us. We die for freedom. Not just for ours, but for our children's and our families.

"What Sara and her people believe in is a one world government… they believe in equality… I know how the appeal can seem with everyone being equal, but there's no way that can ever be possible even if it would be a wonderful thing. Sara and her people believe in turning all humans into vampires, but that is not the right thing to do… millions would die, millions would turn to level E. What she proposes isn't freedom! Its slavery and it's wrong!

"Maybe we're out numbered, but they've misjudged one thing… that our spirits and our souls and our hearts are completely in it with us and that no matter what in the end good will ALWAYS prevail over evil. I know this, because I've read the book and I know how it ends. We are going to win this and we are going to have our freedom!"

"For freedom!" A man shouted and they all tossed their hats, cheering at the top of their lungs while the spirit was strong with them.

"For our children's feature and freedom!"

Haruka nodded and glanced at Takuma.

"Great job."

"Now let's prepare them." He said quietly to Takuma, before turning back to the men. "Everyone into your places! Take up defensive positions along the tree lines! We're going to use my son's plan."

He quickly rechecked everything, gathering everyone to their defensive positions and just as the last few got into place he glanced up at the blue flag in the distance. The army was approaching.

XxXxX

The blue army stopped their approach at the edge of the forest; across the large fields laid the camp of their enemies. Sara slowly rode up beside Ichijo and the elder glanced over at her, before looking back to the camp.

"I expected better of you, Ichijo… you should have taken them out in your attack last night." Sara remarked.

"I was weakening them." He replied lowly, his eyes made their way over to Kaname. "Why do you have him?"

"He's going to lend us his power." She replied and she could tell that the elder was wonder what exactly she had done to him.

"Are you prepared?" He asked finally.

"Yes. Send the first wave." Sara told him and he nodded, before pulling the reigns and urging his horse to turn around, heading off to the first group of skirmishers. "You look upset, Kaname."

Kaname slowly looked over at her. "I find it humorous your colors are blue, it's such a conservative color, shouldn't you have red just like any true communist?" His lips twisted up in a smirk to conceal his true feelings. "Or perhaps you're using that color to deceive the people?"

"I'm hurt that you would such something so cruel to me. It's obvious you have never cared for me."

"You're…. trying to manipulate me…"

"Am I? Or am I truly hurt?" She asked and he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Forward!" A captain ordered and the first wave of soldiers started forward. They almost made it halfway, before cannon balls slammed into the tightly packed lines. Vampires shattered to dust while hunters were blown to bits.

Kaname sighed deeply and looked away, this was only a display of brute force, and there were no real tactics here. Why did she want to waste soldiers by scaring them and trying to make them give up? It made him wonder what she hoped to gain by doing so.

Wave after wave was defeated the same way, and finally Sara turned around and called a group to follow her around the side.

"Kaname, come with me." She told him and he closed his eyes for a moment, before urging the horse beneath him forward to go along with her. They ended up on the side of the battle field, somewhat towards the middle.

He watched as another group charged down the field where Shirabuki blue clashed with Kuran red in the center. They ripped into each other violently, before a captain in blue shouted.

"We're routed!"

"Give this up…" Kaname requested. He saw no point in doing this. "It isn't-"

"Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do. Do you think you're such an innocent and pure creature that you have a right to tell me what is right and wrong?" Sara asked him, eyes narrowed and he went silent. "Now… it's time to use your powers for me…"

He looked away for a moment, before slowly getting off the horse and sending it on it's on. A deep sigh escaped him as he glanced back at the camp, before starting forward.

"And Kaname… your first priority is to kill their princess… a young girl, no older than seventeen." Sara told him firmly. "She MUST die by your hands."

He gave her a look, but said nothing farther and started down the hill on his own.

"You're going to have him kill that girl he loves so much?" The old Ichijo asked.

"Yes. I can't keep him under control forever, so I'll have him kill the girl. Once he realized what he's done he'll take his own life. It will be much easier than me killing him. It's also going to be very entertaining. How much would you bet he'll cry?"

XxXxX

The guards stirred suddenly at a sound in the darkness and raised their rifle's, prepared for anything, but none of them expected what they saw.

"General Kuran!" A man lowered his gun and quickly approached when suddenly he felt a hand wrapped around his throat, cutting his air off. He was clearly shocked.

"Si-sir!" The other guard shouted in shock, raising his gun and preparing to fire.

Inside his tent Haruka had been awake and thinking about what to do in the next attack when he heard the commotion outside. Standing, he quickly got up and rushed out and found himself completely shocked by the scene.

"What… is going on here? Kaname!" Haruka had no choice but to step forward and attack him to free the poor man from his grip. He stepped in between them and forcefully broke Kaname's grip around the soldier's throat, before pushing him back a few feet. "What are you doing?"

Kaname didn't reply to him and lowered his shoulders and Haruka thought for a moment he might be backing down, but instead he made to attack and Haruka narrowly avoided it since he hadn't been expecting it.

He was trapped now, he didn't want to hurt Kaname, but he wasn't giving him much of a choice. He didn't think anymore more could go wrong, but the men had heard the fight and come in a hurry to investigate. Seeing their former general betraying them would demoralize them he was sure if it. He had to do something to stop this now before it was too late.

"Another battalion is attacking!" A man shouted and Haruka quickly looked in-between Kaname and the man who had yelled. He was left with no choice but to draw his sword.

"I'm only going to ask once more, Kaname!" Haruka yelled and held his sword up in front of him in warning. A warning which Kaname did not obey and stepped forward to attack. Haruka barely blocked it and realized Kaname was much stronger then he looked. He also realized that he truly was no match for the ancient vampire.

He stepped back quickly and he realized he made a mistake; he was in perfect range for an attack that was surly going to be fatal.

"Kaname?" Right as he was about to end Haruka the voice interrupted and he glanced over. There was a girl standing there. He realized from her looks this must be their princess and the princess was top priority for some reason or another.

"Yuki, run away!" Haruka shouted and brought the anti-vampire sword down on Kaname while he was distracted and sliced through his shoulder.

Kaname grabbed the sword and tossed Haruka away, before heading right after Yuki as were his orders and when she realized something was wrong she did run, but not from him. She needed to get him out of this area.

Yuki had no idea what was going on, all she knew was that her father was down for the count and couldn't save her if she couldn't stop Kaname and whatever had happened to him. She knew something wasn't right, she knew he wouldn't do something like this. Knew he wouldn't betray them.

The tress passed by in a blur she ran so quickly, but finally he caught up to her and caught her by the arm, she turned and slapped him hard across the face, it would her only option as weak and pathetic as it was.

He blinked in shock and brought his free hand up to his face, unsure why he was even reacting to such a simple and ridiculous thing. It gave him an odd feeling he wasn't sure of, that he wasn't used to and he reached up with his other hand and she flinched, prepared for her death. It was coming and nothing could stop it, she knew that much.

Instead of simply killing her, he settled a hand around her throat and didn't squeeze yet, she waited, but he didn't do it, instead he lightly trailed his fingers along her skin and tilted his head to the side a bit.

"Kaname… please…" She whispered softly, gripping his wrist and watching his emotions shift in his eyes. He was calculating something, but she couldn't be sure what it was exactly. "What happened…? Why are you attacking your own family?"

He simply furrowed his brow in confusion at her words, before backing her into a tree and pushing her head off to the side to sink his fangs into her throat. She winced in pain, Kaname had bitten her before, but it had never been violent like this. She quickly reached and fisted her hands in his hair, pulled and trying to get him away, but it was useless against his superior strength.

"Kaname…" Tears pricked her eyes and his stomach churned uneasily as he took in her feelings and… her memories? Something shattered inside him, a wall and it all came rushing back faster than he could handle and he quickly pulled away and backed up suddenly, holding his head.

"Yuki…" He gritted his fangs and snarled deep in his throat at the feelings. He was guilty, and angry. He had fallen for a trick and hurt Yuki of all people. He had hurt Haruka as well and even his own men… he clenched his fist and dropped to his knees. "She took my memories… I'm… going to kill her…."

"Kaname…" She quickly moved beside him and tried to calm him down, do something, because his anger flowed off him in dark waves and even the darkened shadows of the trees as the sun rose seemed to be afraid. "Calm down… it isn't your fault."

"I should… have realized sooner… so I didn't hurt you…"

"Please… calm down… you're-" She felt him drag her into his arms briefly, before pulling away and starting back towards the camp in a brisk pace, although he wasn't running he was quick and she had to jog to keep up with him. "Wait! What are you doing!?"

He didn't answer her and continued to see red as he made his way back, nothing would stop him from tearing that woman apart for taking his memories and altering them. For making him hurt his own family and betray his own people. She would pay.

"Kaname what are you going to do!?" She asked him loudly and he didn't so much as flinch at her shout at his back.

XxXxX

Sara was watching the battle and sensed something was off. There was a quiet sound behind her and she turned to find a hooded figure on a horse that had somehow gotten behind the lines. She raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you?" She asked and tensed. It was a pureblood that was for sure.

A hand slowly reached up and pulled the hood back, revealing dark chestnut hair and furious violet eyes aimed directly at her.

"You have hurt my family so much… you have caused much grief… so I am going to kill you, Sara Shirabuki."

"Juri Kuran… you think you'll be able to defeat me?!"

"Think? You are about to learn what happens when you come face to face with a mother scorned!" She kicked leapt forward and tacked Sara off her horse and Sara retaliated by kicking Juri off her and moving to a fighting position while Juri drew Artemis.

XxXxX

Back at the camps Haruka was preparing a horse to go after Kaname, but he stopped when he noticed him coming out of the woods with Yuki close behind and trying to get him to stop. He sighed deeply in relief at realizing he must have come to his senses.

"Kaname I'm glad that you're-" Kaname briskly brushed past him and Haruka frowned now. "Yuki… what's going on?"

"He's going to kill Sara!" She shouted, even if she wasn't opposed to him doing such a thing at this point after all that woman had done, she didn't think he was in any shape.

"What? Kaname stop! You can't handle this right now! Don't do it in anger!" He shouted, but still no reply. Yuki started after him again, but Haruka grabbed her. "No, Yuki don't… he might hurt you."

"He wouldn't!"

"Look at him! He doesn't even know what he's doing, he's running on rage. Don't get close!" He glanced at his men as soon as Kaname got close. "Fall back to the rally point! Stay away from Kaname!"

The men all backed away as Kaname walked past them and before they could all get away he was already on the field. He grabbed a soldier in blue by the throat and slammed him into the ground and he turned to dust right away.

There was s stunned silence before a man quickly ran at him with a weapon, but he avoided it and slammed his fist through his chest and ripped his heart out of his chest, crushing it between his fingers. Most of Shirabuki's men were focusing on him now as the red soldiers slowly made their retreat to stay away from their former general.

He crushed a number of soldiers before they started massively attempting to take out the overpowering pureblood. One vampire jumped onto his back in attempt to hold him, but Kaname only flipped him off of his back and tossed him away several feet while another attempted to attack from the side, but he quickly countered it.

Haruka watched from a distance and turned Yuki away from the violence. He didn't want her to have to see how terrible this was going to get, it was only going to become worse.

Kaname was unstoppable and these low ranking soldiers stood no chance. Again one man jumped onto his back and he tossed him while two others tried to flank him from both sides, he grabbed one in a head lock and back handed the other across the face. Another had snuck up behind him and caught him around the throat and started stabbing him in the back with a blade multiple times.

He growled and tossed both the men and tried to reach back to stop the irritating soldier behind, but the others proved to be a lot of trouble and continued trying to help their friend take him down. It was only making him more anger at their irritating attempts. Instead of trying to attempt to turn around he simply backpedaled into the man and fell back onto him and the knife, despite the pain it was the only way to get him off.

He quickly turned and ripped his throat right out and ignored the blood the covered him, before turning and finally using his reserves of power and wiping out the other two. Finally more came at him and he did the same, it didn't matter if he was weak now from that anti-vampire weapon and Sara's mind wipe and all the fighting he had done so far. All he was concerned about was getting to Sara and killing her for what she had done.

Kaname had always been a reserved vampire, but she had altered his memory. She had defiled the memory of that woman that had meant so much to him. She had hurt his family and finally making him hurt Yuki was the very last straw that he was going to take and he had finally snapped. What should have happened years ago was happening now and he had gone made with his guilt and grief.

XxXxX

Juri jumped back and dodged an attack from Sara, her face was cut from Sara's claws coming in for too close of a call and Sara also had a few scrapes and bruises. Standing with her back to a tree she waited, muscles tensed and prepared to move. She felt the rough bark against her back through the fabric of her coat and knew her plan from that point on.

Sara jumped forward to attack and Juri dodged again, leaving Sara to take out a nice portion of the tree's trunk in the process. Quickly turning Juri swung Artemis and this left Sara to dodge the attack in turn.

"You missed, Juri-san… you're going to die here."

"Are you sure about that?" Juri asked and Sara noticed too late the tree snapped and crushed her beneath it and having been injured by an anti-vampire weapon the bones broken by the act weren't healing.

"NO! I won't lose here!" She shouted, struggling to push the gigantic oak off, but to no avail. She continued to struggle and scream like a mouse caught on a trap.

Juri smirked to herself and settled Artemis back at her side. She turned around only to come face to face with Kaname. His appearance startled her as he was torn up and covered in blood and wounds, but what startled her most was the look in his eyes.

"Kaname… what's happened to you?" He made to move to go to Sara, but she managed to stop him and push him back quickly. "Enough!"

"I have to kill that woman." He stated, almost as if he were in a daze as he swallowed hard and made to step forward.

"No! No. Kaname… she's trapped and weak. It is my job to finish this, not yours." Juri told him and he only shook his head, blood dripping from the ends of his hair and down his face. "Listen to me, Kaname… you have to stop now. If you kill her now out of rage then you will lose yourself and all you have worked so hard for."

"She took my memories from me."

"She took a lot of things from a lot of people and yes, she is an evil person, but killing her is never going to make that right. You have to let go now." Juri told him softly and he dropped to his knees weakly in front of her.

"I have to…" He clenched his fists.

"I know how hard it is to let go of anger and vengeance. Even if it is a bad person, it will never be right and the only one its hurting is you. You will lose your heart and even if you don't believe what I'm saying to you, you have one of the noblest hearts I have ever known and it would be such a shame to lose. It's enough, Kaname. You've done enough. Just let go. It's enough." Juri told him and kneeled in front of him and placed a gentle kiss to the top of his head despite him being covered in blood. "My son, please. Do the right thing always, even if it's hard."

He nodded slowly and she helped him to stand up again, sensing he had used a lot of energy in the past few days. His reserves were low and he needed to feed or he wasn't going to be able to stand much longer. A group of hunters made their way from the woods at Juri's beckoning to apprehend Sara and end this once and for all where she would stand trial before a judge of the joint council.

They slowly made their way back to the camp with men cheering in victory at their win, Sara had been bound and gagged and was also led back by a large group of hunters where they put her in the back of a carriage, extra security so there was no escape for her.

"We'll take her back to a high security prison for vampires right away." Kaien told Haruka as the two talked quietly.

"Good. I'm glad this is finally over."

"I'm proud of you for making the right choice." Juri told Kaname as they made their way back, they were slower than the rest and while the hunters had gotten Sara back to camp and on her way to a holding cell they were only half way across the field due to fatigue.

"Be that as it may… I still would really like to kill her…" He stated slowly.

"I think a lot of people do…" She admitted and Kaname weakly laughed, before he sized up and pushed her to the ground right away and saved her from a close call with an arrow. She sat up and saw the large group of soldiers in blue on the hill. "Impossible…"

"No… Asato Ichijo is still alive…"

"Hear this, Kurans!" Asato shouted. "We will take our queen back! By force!" A loud roar of shouts followed his voice as the cavalry charged.

Juri looked up at the look on his face. "Kaname, I know what you're thinking, but you can't use any more of your powers if you do you'll-" She was cut off as they got too close and Kaname only raised a hand slightly and the earth shook and the ground of the battlefield split down the middle, giving way beneath the cavalry.

Finally the blue forces were no more and Kaname collapsed while Juri quickly made her way to his side and moved to check on him in worry.

At seeing his forces completely decimated Asato turned and rode away into the forest to retreat on his own. He rode farther and farther into the dark, before stopping at the sight of a few shadows lurking, it startled his horse and the horse bucked him off and bolted.

He looked up and noticed the group of crass looking vampires. "It's about time you got here. Our men are routed! We need you on the battle field!" The shadows slowly got closer and closer. "What are you doing?!" He asked, standing up and backing away as they got closer only to reveal they were level E's, created by Sara's "purge" of the nearby town he had overseen. "Stand down! I order you to stand down!"

They all moved in a blur and were all over him before he could even scream and draining his blood before he could push them away.

XxXxX

Several weeks later…

The mansion was filled with a few men of the new council in the den, talking and discussing politics and new ethics that should be enforced. It was relatively calm and laid back as things were talked over and easily decided upon without too much bickering.

Footsteps slowly echoed in the hallway and the door suddenly opened to reveal Zero with a letter that he handed to Haruka.

"Thank you, Kiryu-kun." Haruka said, taking the letter and reading it over.

"What does it say, Haruka?" Kaien asked, looking up at him curiously.

"Ah… Sara was sentenced to death by the court for her crimes." He stated somewhat grimly while frowning a bit, but there was no other choice. She had committed so many crimes that they were still discovering.

"Yes…" Kaien pushed his glasses up. "There was no other choice, really… as opposed to killing as I am."

"Agreed." Aido stated, sipping his tea calmly.

"You must be relived…" Haruka said to the shadow in the corner that seemed more preoccupied with the two in the garden below. "Kaname."

"Hmm…" Was Kaname's only reply as he leaned against the wall and continued to watch Yuki and Juri planting flowers.

Haruka smiled slightly. "You're dismissed Zero, tell your family I said hello. And that pretty fiancée of yours, Yori I believe her name was? And Kaname… tell your mother to come up here so I can speak with her."

Both young men headed out the door at the same time, as they reached the exit both stopped and glanced at one another.

"Kuran…"

"Kiryu…"

There was an awkward silence, before Kaname held his hand out and Zero looked at him, before shaking it and nodding.

"Thank you for saving me."

"Yeah, well… you're not so bad… for a vampire."

"Good luck, Kiryu."

"You too, Kuran."

Both young men exited the mansion and went opposite ways. Zero headed to his awaiting fiancée at the car and Kaname headed to the garden in the back.

He really wasn't sure how to feel at the news of Sara's death. He had wanted to kill her and yet he had let it go somehow or another. At the same time of not knowing how to feel he felt relived. That it was finally over… and that she hadn't died by his hand.

When he arrived at the garden he paused and cleared his throat to alert them to his presence and not startled them. The scent of all these flowers did get ones senses in a bit of mix up.

"Ah, Kaname!" Juri smiled at him. "Come to plant flowers with the girls?"

"Ah, no. Father wishes to speak with you about some matters." Kaname replied simply, holding a hand over his mouth and faking a cough to cover up the smile of humor at her suggestion, knowing full well if it meant being close to Yuki he would do it.

"Oh, does he now?" Juri smiled to Yuki then. "Well it looks like you'll have to plant flowers with Kaname for a bit Yuki. If that's alright with you of course."

Yuki glanced at him for a moment and pretended to be thinking about it for a moment. "I suppose it will be fine with me."

"Now… I wonder what in the world that man wants this time. He's probably only going to monopolize my time with something silly again." Juri stated while removing her apron and handing it to Kaname, where he held it up and scowled slightly at the flowery designed. It looked more like something Kaien would wear. "We'll bake a cake later and maybe Kaname can join for that as well." She giggled, before leaving the two alone.

There was a moment of silence after she left and Kaname slowly folded the apron and set it down on a bench near the fountain and sat down and she folded her legs under herself and glanced at him for a moment, before looking back to the flowers, which in turn made him raise an eyebrow.

Finally she stood up and he once again raised an eyebrow at her odd jittery behavior. She removed her dirt covered apron as well and folded it and set it over her mother's.

"Kaname… I…" She hesitated at the look on his face, which seemed amused in a way. "I wanted to know if you wanted to dance with me."

He blinked slowly and there was another moment of silence, before he stood up, bowed and took her hand lightly.

"I would love to, Yuki…" He drawled and she offered him a slight smile as he pulled her closer to him and settled into a comfortable position. "Right here and now? In front of everyone?"

"Yes… here and now and I don't care who is watching." Yuki replied, knowing the men of the senate were probably on the balcony above and gushing over the 'cuteness' of the two. He smiled and chuckled quietly.

"Alright then, Yuki."

"And… besides…" She looked away shyly as he started a light waltz. "We'll… need practice dancing in front of everyone for our wedding right?"

His jaw dropped slightly, before he shut it right away and smiled more than he ever had in his entire life at her words.

"Yes… you're right. We'll need to dance in front of everyone."

"I wouldn't be able to do it with anybody else as my partner either. Only you." Yuki told him softly. "It was always only you."

"You're right, Yuki. It's the same for me." He leaned down to lightly press his lips to hers in a chaste kiss and the men above started cheering and both sighed at the ruined moment. He brought a hand up and the doors slammed shut and the curtains pulled back.

There were groans of disappointment and a few men muttering no fair and he swore their father and Kaien were discussing grandchildren and godchildren at this very moment. He laughed quietly and Yuki only smiled at him.

"I guess we have to get used to that too, huh?"

"Mmm… don't worry. Eventually they'll become bored and move onto other things." He informed as they continued their dance. Haruka quickly opened the door and set a music box on the railing before retreating back inside and slamming the doors. "… but not yet quite obviously…"

Both laughed quietly and continued to dance to the soft turning of the music box setting on the edge of the balcony. There was enough sadness and strife in the world. It was time for a happy ending.

XxXxX

End

And there you have it. Thanks everyone who reviewed. Let me know what you thought, thanks for reading and God bless~


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